Out of Thin Air
by TooMuchCaffine
Summary: In pursuit of a drug dealer, a plane carrying the team crashes in the rainforest. Mayhem ensues! I own nothing, all hail DPB!
1. Chapter 1

AN: Another fic! Yay! I don't know if I should continue this or not...the story line is admittedly a little clichéd (no infringement intended!), but I do know where I'm going with it! Enjoy (or not) and review!

* * *

Tony threw his head back, rubbing his temple. Seventy-two hours of sleep deprived, caffeine fueled labor had gone into virtually no progress. The FBI had been fully uncooperative with them, forcing McGee and Abby to spend a full day hacking into a system which could have easily been accessed with a minimal effort from their federal foes.

Ziva looked across the isle to her partner's desk, watching him repeatedly bash his head against the desk. Pity was not something she was predisposed to, but in this case she made an exception. She stood up and walked to his desk, placing her hand in Tony's, "Here. Take these. They will help you feel better." she dropped two Tylenol in his palm, "It cannot possibly be worse than pounding your head into a desk. How can that possibly help your headache?"

He swallowed the pills dry, looking up at the dark inquiring eyes staring him down, "To each their own." he stood to stretch his legs, "So what _do_ we know?"

McGee stood from his desk, bringing up the case on the plasma, "Ensign James Scott, native of DC, went missing five days ago." the image of the ensign appeared on the screen, "Five kilos of cocaine and three-hundred grand in cash were found in his apartment, along with several automatic weapons."

"We also found a few fake passports and drivers licenses. All the same identity, most likely practice runs for the real thing," Ziva continued for him, "According to his new persona, 'Hector Lopez' is a translator working for the US embassy in Venezuela. Venezuelan citizenship."

"We have to find this guy before he gets to Venezuela. No extradition; get out of jail free card." Tony sighed, "Did he buy a ticket yet?"

A voice from behind and above them barked, "He doesn't need a ticket! The bastard has a pilot's license and a small craft!" Gibbs came down from the catwalk, two steps at a time, "The airport where he rented a hanger said he left two days ago."

Ziva groaned, "Why are we just finding out about this now?"

McGee darted to his computer, typing away, "According to the FAA, he landed in Bogotá yesterday!"

Tony was confused, "Why go to Columbia? Why not Venezuela where there's no extradition?"

"Because, DiNozzo," Gibbs explained, "Columbia is one of the biggest drug exporters in the world. Scott couldn't resist that jackpot. Judging by how much money we found in his apartment, he could buy a hell of a lot of drugs down there."

"So, what is the plan?" Ziva asked, "Do we just hop a plane to Columbia, and hope to get him before he reached Venezuelan soil?"

The group exchanged glances. "Well, yeah! Unless you have a better idea, Officer David?"

* * *

"Priority flight? Again? Boss, you're gonna kill me!" Tony whined, taking a seat in the back of the massive aircraft's cargo hold, "McGee gets to stay! How come I have to get tossed around like a ragdoll?"

Ziva elbowed his side, "Stop complaining! At least we have a chance of catching up to him before it is too late if we leave now. Besides, McGee is needed here. He can track Scott's credit card or phone from NCIS."

Gibbs threw his bag in the back corner, "I happen to like priority flights, brings me back to my Corps days!" he grinned, knowing the younger agent hated him at the moment

Tony rolled his eyes, clinging to a nearby pallet for support as the plane lurched forward. Peering out the window, he watched the lights of Washington shrink down and all but disappear. A rustling behind him made him squeal. He'd already set several mousetraps, just as a precaution. He noticed a cargo net swaying above, "Ziva?! What are you doing up there?"

Ziva swung herself gracefully into the net, "Gibbs? Can you toss me my bag?" she asked

Her boss threw up her bag, noticing its girth, "What all did you pack?" he tried not to be a sexist, but four ex-wives colored his feelings about women. Ziva's bag felt like it was full of bricks. _Why do women always 'need' more than they need?_

"I had no way of knowing how long we would be leaving, where we would be staying, or what we may encounter, so I packed enough clothes to get by for a week, plus additional food, bottled water, first-aid, and toiletries." She stated, "I only packed what may be necessary."

Tony shook his head, "Stay away from Weeblos McGee, Ziva! He's rubbing off on you. Why are you up there anyway?" he tortured both of his younger teammates relentlessly, and never passed up an opportunity.

"I haven't slept in three days, Tony. I'm going to sleep!" she lay back, using the netting as a hammock, "Wake me when we get ready to land. And do not come begging to me in a few hours when you want one of my snacks!" she tossed Gibbs a granola bar from her bag, sticking out her tongue at Tony

"Yeah, real mature, Ziva!" Tony called

Gibbs shook his head, watching in dismay as Tony tried and failed to replicate Ziva's acrobatics. Rather than slinging himself into a net, Tony flung himself over, falling flat on his back. One of his many mousetraps found its way onto one of his fingers. "Tony? Just stop."

Tony threw the trap away, shaking out his hand. A warm voice chuckled at him from above, "You know, in South America, mice and rats are the least of your worries! They have capibara!" she looked down at him, watching his face, "It is a rodent that is the size of a large goat! The live in the Amazon, and have been known to fight off anacondas!" she let out a malicious laugh, swinging down long enough to grab a bottle of water. "Sweet dreams, Tony!" she swung herself easily into her hammock, making it look all too easy.

He looked up, watching Ziva sleep peacefully in her net, "Show off." he muttered

* * *

A few hours in, the plane began to fly off balance, shifting around the passengers and crew. Tony darted out of the way as an unsecured crate slid toward him. The crate smashed open, spilling its contents a few feet from where Tony stood. "Wow! That wasn't in the brochure!"

As the plane shifted from the horizontal, cargo flew everywhere. Anything that wasn't properly strapped in was tossed around helplessly. That included the passengers. Gibbs finally woke up when a barrel fell from ten feet above, and smashed open beside him. "What the hell is going on?!" Gibbs stood up, moving out of the path of the debris, "Tony! Watch your six!" he looked up to the ceiling

Tony spun around, seeing nothing at first, "What?"

A small shriek alerted him to the threat. Ziva fell from her makeshift hammock, along with her supplies. Running forward, rather than away from the sound, he held out his arms, catching his partner against his chest, "You gotta stop dropping in like this!" he teased, setting her down, panting heavily. Her bag fell a few feet away, narrowly missing hitting them.

"What on dirt is going on!" Ziva groaned, tackling Tony to keep him from being pulverized by boxes

Tony shook his head, "Earth. Earth, Ziva. Not dirt." her idiomatic errors if nothing else, lightened the mood, "Hopefully, we won't meet the Earth too soon."

The craft shifted again, more forcefully this time. The three agents were tossed toward the back, along with several crates. Tony grabbed Ziva around the middle, throwing her down. He wrapped his body around hers as pieces of broken boxes pelted his back.

Gibbs helped Tony up after the debris quit raining down on him. Thankfully he was fine, save for a few splinters embedded in his back. "Everyone okay?" he checked

Tony nodded, helping Ziva to her feet; not an easy task since they were flying at a thirty degree angle. She clung to Gibbs' arm, trying to steady herself as the plane lurched once more. "Sorry, Gibbs!"

A calm voice came over the intercom, "_We are experiencing turbulence."_

"The hell we are!" Gibbs barked at the box mounted on the wall

"_Remain calm. An emergency landing may be necessary. In the event that..." _Gibbs rolled at the automated recording, _Yeah, this is us being calm...tossed around in the damn cargo hold!_

Gibbs looked out the window, watching the rain-forest grow closer and closer. "We're going down!"

* * *

AN: Should I continue? You like? Reviews make me write faster, and stroke my ego!

Note: title and summary may change


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Due to the fact that readers will hunt me down and kill me if I don't, I am continuing this. Thanks to all who've reviewed, I'm hugging you all in my mind right now...

There may or may not be ships, I haven't decided yet...suggestions?

This chapter is a little dark- assisted suicide...you've been warned.

* * *

The roaring sound of a strong downpour pounding against the plane woke Gibbs from his peacefully state. A blinding headache was throbbing behind his eyes. Shoving some debris off of him, he struggled to sit up, "DiNozzo? David? Where are you?" he called out

Surveying the damage, he noted that his body escaped almost unscathed. His left wrist was mangled and tender, and his side ached where a piece of the lights fell down on him. He was grateful that he was alive, and prayed that the others were as lucky.

Shakily forcing himself to his feet, his eyes swept over the wreckage. The plane was split in half down the middle, the front half tipped up at a steep angle, the rear horizontal. The co-pilot, an Air-Force captain whom he knew well, was draped over his seat, coughing. Gibbs rushed to his side, "Hang on, Tom! Don't you die on me yet, you still owe me from last Super Bowl, remember? You thought the Patriots were a sure thing!" he patted his old friend's back, "Just hang on!"

The man smiled a little, "Gunny, relax a little!" he hacked a little, blood dripping from his mouth, "I've lived a good life! You may have ten years on me, but I've seen my share too. I don't have any regrets, and neither should you." Tom looked at him with pleading eyes

"No, I can't do that, Tom. You know I can't!" Gibbs refused to let him give in

"Look, its too late for him," he pointed to the pilot, who's lifeless body was pinned to the throttle, "And it looks like its to late for me but not for you; _carpe diem _Jethro! Even if I could make it, I'd live the rest of my days in a chair, or hooked up to a bed! I can't feel my legs, I can't barely breathe...Jethro, come on. Please."

Gibbs stood there solemnly, watching his friend fade in and out of consciousness. He discretely reached for his sidearm, and sighed, "Remember the trouble we got ourselves into in Puerto Rico?" he baited, "Those were the days, huh?"

The dying man laughed, "_We?_ You were the one who decided to drink that shit! I had a hangover for a month! I still can barely remember what happened after you passed out. Oh, yeah... those were-"

Lowering his weapon, Gibbs reached into the overhead, and grabbed a couple of emergency blankets. He covered Tom and the pilot's bodies lightly. "Yeah, those were the days..."

* * *

He reached for the radio, praying it still worked. However, along with most of the plane, the radio was destroyed on impact. He did manage to find the black box. _If these damn things are indestructible, why not make the whole damn plane out of it?_

After a brief search turned up nothing, a strong scent filled his nose. Two smells actually; smoke and jet fuel.

Searching through what was left of the cargo hold for what he could salvage quickly, Gibbs heard a strangled yelp. Running toward the sound, he saw Tony, standing hunched over something, about a few hundred feet from the smoking craft, "DiNozzo? You okay?" he called

Tony stood up at the sound of his boss's voice, "Gibbs?! You made it, too huh? You may be a bastard, but you're a lucky one. Come help me, will ya?"

Climbing over the broken boxes, Gibbs stood with Tony near a large crate, which was surprisingly intact. Turned on its side, it was nearly as tall as the two men, and twice as long. "I figured it could work as a shelter. Its raining pretty hard, and we might be out here for a while." he walked around to the open side, a slight limp in each step, showing Gibbs the interior

"Well, its better than nothing," Gibbs noted. He sighed when he peered inside. Ziva lay unconscious, wrapped up tightly in Tony's jacket, a deep gash across her forehead. Tony knelt down beside her, calling out softly, "Ziva? Are you okay? Gibbs found us."

The younger agent began to stir slightly, "Gibbs? Are you alright?" she managed to get up to her hands and knees before Tony stopped her, "I am fine, Tony. Just...a little tired."

"Easy, girl. You need to take it kinda slow." Tony cautioned, "Your head's a little bit banged up." he brushed her hair aside, showing Gibbs her injury more clearly

"I have first aid supplies in my bag." she told them, "It isn't really enough for something of this magnitude, but it is better than nothing."

Gibbs found the bag, laying in the mud, and brought it into the makeshift shelter, "I guess we hold up here for now. Someone's bound to notice a 747 falling from the sky."

"That or the flaming remnants of what _used_ to be a 747." Tony commented, glancing over at the burning wreckage, illuminating the rain-forest in a soft orange glow

Gibbs took out the first-aid kit, realizing for the first time how limited the use of his hand was, "Who needs what?"

Tony sat on the crate floor next to Ziva, "I've got a headache and a busted knee," he rolled up his jeans, "Ziva tied a board to it with her belt; she found me first before she passed out. She's just got the one gash and maybe a few cracked ribs." he gently probed around her chest for a few seconds before she slapped his hand away

Angry, she gripped Tony's sides fiercely, making him shout out in pain. Apparently Tony wasn't as unscathed as he had thought, "It hurts, does it not? Then don't do it to me!" the rage in her eyes was swallowed up quickly by the fear and pain, "I am sorry, Tony. I know this is not your fault, and you were only making sure that I was alright. But please, don't touch me there again."

Tony smirked slightly, "Don't worry about it. I'm not that stupid."

Carefully and quickly patching Ziva's brow, Gibbs felt the pain in his wrist flare up again. Noticing this, she reached out to take his arm, "Here. Let me see what I can do." she used the strap from her bag and a few gauze pads to brace his injured wrist, "Its the best I can do for now."

Gibbs found a bottle of Tylenol, and bottled water, "Here. We don't have much water, so ration it. Once the rain lets up, we can get a fire going. We can use it to signal for help, boil water to drink, or cook something to eat if we have to."

The medication was quickly passed around Ziva greedily took the pills, her head spinning, "Are we the only ones left?" her tone was cold, and a little too serious, but it was a valid question

"The pilot and co-pilot are dead, yes." Gibbs told them, "We're on our own out here."

"Did you check the radio?" Tony asked hopefully

"No, Tony. I didn't possibly think of that!" Gibbs barked sarcastically, "The whole cockpit was so mangled you couldn't even really get in there, even if it weren't on fire.." his mind flashed back to his old friend. _No regrets._

"Sorry, boss," he said, rummaging through Ziva's bag, "You know, your impulsive over-packing may be our saving grace here, Ziva. Food, water, matches, first-aid...hey, there's blankets!" he wrapped a soft felt fleece around himself and Ziva, offering Gibbs a second one buried down below, "How did you pack all this in one duffel?"

Ziva lay back, "I don't know! I did not intend for this to help us survive a plane crash, Tony." she grabbed the blanket, pulling it over her head, "Hopefully we will be found before our supplies run out."

Tony lay his hand on her shoulder, "Someone _will_ find us, Ziva." he assured her, "McGoogle's probably tracking the plane, sending help to us right now. Now why don't you go back to sleep? Gibbs? We have to wake her every few hours." though her pain was subsiding, she still had a concussion at least.

"I know, Tony." Gibbs nodded, "You sleep too, I'll wake you both in two hours." _There's no way I'm sleeping tonight anyway._

"What time is it?" a sleepy voice grumbled

He glanced down at his wristwatch, "0100 Zulu. Sleep, Ziva!" Gibbs ordered gently, "We'll work things out in the morning."

She reluctantly complied, laying back. The crate was long enough to lie down in, but was heavily saturated with rain water. Ignoring the dampness, she let her exhaustion overcome her and take her into a dreamless sleep.

Tony grabbed the bag, laying it down so they could use it as a pillow. If someone had told him twenty-four hours ago that he would be out lost in the middle of a rain-forest, spooning a Mossad assassin while their boss watched, he would have called them crazy. But laying there beside her, watching the plane burn, he clung to her tightly. He clung to one of the few fixtures of reality that had survived, praying for a miracle which may never come.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thanks to all who've reviewed so far, you guys rock! Thank you for stroking my ego!

* * *

Tony rolled over, barely awake. He felt for Ziva, who had been sleeping beside him, but he didn't find her. The blanket where she'd been lying was still warm from where she'd slept, so she hadn't been gone long. He sat up, rubbing his stiff neck. The rain had stopped at some point in the night, and the sun was starting to rise. Looking around, Gibbs too was gone.

"Gibbs? Ziva?" he called, crawling out of the makeshift shelter, "Where'd you go?"

He sat on the crate, looking around at the tropical landscape. The rain had finally quenched the flames from the wreckage, washing away most of the debris. Tree limbs and fallen fallen vines already covered the smoldering remains, making it blend in, assimilating it into the rain-forest.

"Tony?" Ziva called, "Come and help me!"

He ran toward the sound of her voice, "Where are you? Ziva?"

"Up here!" she called from high up a tree. She threw something at him from above, narrowly missing his head

"Careful! You could really do some damage, you know!" he avoided the projectile, an unripened fruit, "What do you need?"

"Catch!" she yelled

Holding out his arms, a huge bunch of large greenish produce was thrown from the trees. Catching the heavy bundle, he stumbled back, cursing his injured knee "What are these things? They're too big for bananas!" he called

"They are plantains, Tony. They are larger and starchier than bananas. They are very good when fried, and will provide us with food when they ripen in a day or so." she wrapped her legs around the trunk, sliding down carefully, her boots sinking deep into the mud

Tony examined the fruit, "Alright, you're sure they're not poisonous?" he skeptically sniffed the bunch, "I'd rather starve for a few days than die in one."

Ziva limped over, taking the load from him, "Yes, I am sure. That is not all I found, come look." she led him back to the shelter, showing him a large box filled with fruit, "There are passion fruits, bananas, and now plantains for us to eat." she handed him a banana, "Eat, you must be hungry."

They sat quietly, eating their booty. Ziva finally spoke up, "Do you know where Gibbs went?" she looked around, "He was still sleeping when I woke up."

"No, I haven't." Tony was a little worried that their leader had gone missing, "How long have you been up?" he stuffed his face with one of the bananas, for once, grateful for fruit

"About an hour?" she told him, "I would guess seven, since that is when the Tylenol wore off. After that I could not sleep, and I did not want to waste what little medicine we have."

He sympathetically smiled at her, "We wouldn't be mad at you for taking some Tylenol, Ziva. If you need it, take it."

"It is bearable now," she assured him. While taking something would alleviate her discomfort slightly, they still had no way of knowing how long they could be out here

* * *

A knock at the door startled Director Shepard, making her jump. She nearly spilled her coffee, "Come in?" it was not a common occurrence for someone to actually use her door as such

Agent McGee was a rare visitor to her office, and when he was, it was rarely because of good news, "Um, Director? You might want to turn on ZNN." he stuttered, "We have a problem."

She found the remote, flipping on the TV. The images on screen were alternating between those of a 747 and of three of her agents. "_The 747, a cargo flight out of DC, was bound for Bogotá, Columbia when it went down sometime during the night."_

"Oh, my god." Jen stood up, staring at the screen

"_The plane went down somewhere over the Northern part of South America, in either Northern Columbia or Venezuela. Search and rescue procedures are in effect. There were twelve passengers aboard the flight. Among the missing are three NCIS agents, Anthony DiNozzo, Leroy Gibbs, and Ziva David. We will have more details for you as they become available..."_

"Find them," she ordered, her voice lacking the usual force and enthusiasm. Instead, laced with worry and guilt, "Now, McGee!"

* * *

Ziva sat quietly, watching the sky. Would it rain? Would it not? The heavens had been very indecisive. In the brief time they'd been awake, they had seen rain, sun, hail, and clouds. None lasting more than a few minutes.

"Do you think this rain will ever stop?" Tony mumbled, resting under the blankets beside her

"Yes. Give it ten minutes, and it will have stopped and started again twice in that time." she sighed, withdrawing into the crate further to avoid the sudden downpour, "Where is Gibbs? He has been gone well over two hours!" she was beginning to worry

Tony placed a hand on her shoulder and a blanket around her body, "Relax, this is Gibbs we're talking about! He's probably already found food, fire, and what they were hiding at Roswell in the time it took us to find fruit growing in trees." he smirked, seeing her roll her eyes at his comment, "He'll be back soon, and he probably won't come back empty handed. He's probably got fish, or crab, or-"

"Tony, don't talk about food!" Ziva snapped, "I want to eat something too, but for now, all we have is unripened fruit!"

He cringed a little, knowing that she too was sick of the wild already. "We could try to make a fire?" he offered, trying to keep her mind busy, "That way we'll have water, and someone might spot it from the air?"

"We could, except that all combustible materials are soaked from the rain." she reminded him, gesturing out to the scenery which was quickly being washed away, whipped around by rain and wind

"Okay, so what would you suggest?!" he roared, "Hey, Gibbs would know! Wait a minute, Gibbs isn't here!" he felt helpless, knowing that everyone depended on each other; on him. Yet he could not do anything to resolve the situation, "So unless you think of something we _can_ do, just shut up, Ziva!"

He soon regretted his outburst. She nodded quietly, then retreated to her side of the shelter, her back to him. She was doing the best she could; the best any of them could. This was no more her fault than anyone else's. He carefully crept up beside her, not wanting to startle or anger her further, "Ziva, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so...pissed." he reached out to her, but she flinched away when he touched her shoulder. He sat on the floor next to her, "Look, if there's anything I can do, just let me know, okay? It'll be okay, it just might take a while..."

"I know Tony, I just want to go home," she sighed, finally letting him come a little closer

He placed his arms tightly around her slim form, drawing her close as another gust of wind whipped the cold rain into their shelter, "We'll find a way out of here, I promise."

* * *

"Where are they, Timmy?!" Abby demanded, draining her third CaffPow! of the morning, tossing away the refuse, "They were on a flight from DC to Bogotá, thats a lot of land to cover!" she glanced at the map on the plasma, wearing stripes in the carpet from her pacing, "They could be in Florida, Haiti, Venezuela, Colum-"

"Abby, we get it." McGee assured her, forcing her to sit down, "Your pacing is making me nauseous. Sit!"

Ducky and Palmer came up from autopsy to aid in the search, "Now, the FAA believes that they went down somewhere over here, correct?" Ducky pointed to the northern coast of South America

"Yeah, hopefully on Columbia's side, not Venezuela's" McGee zoomed in on the area, "Search crews are out there now, trying to find them from the air."

Abby perked up, "Yeah, if they use infrared, they could find them that way!" she began to type on McGee's computer shoving him aside, "Look, it says here, its seventy-nine degrees in Bogotá. They can find a bunch of ninety-eightish degree blips on the infrared, and we'll have them!"

"Unless they're in some sort of shelter, natural or otherwise which could hide the heat signature." Palmer noted. The others glared at him, making him very nervous, "Just saying..."

Jen came down the stairs from MTAC, a sullen look on her face, "They found Jethro."

* * *

Cliffy! Yeah, I'm evil, live with it! Whumping will ensue shortly!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry for the slow update, and any grammatical errors in this fic. I've got a really bad migraine right now, so there's probably a lot of errors in here, so bear with me...

* * *

Tony awoke to the incessant sound of heavy rain falling on their shelter. It was just after sunrise, but he felt like he could sleep for a week. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but was challenged by an unfamiliar weight across his stomach. Ziva lay sprawled out over him, her mouth open slightly, snoring softly. He poked her gently, trying to get her to stir, "Hey, you awake? Ziva..."

She moaned, pushing his hand away as he used his fingers to pry open her heavy eyelids, "Tony, let me sleep..." she nested into his chest, drawing the blankets tightly around the two of them for warmth, "Is it morning?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "Gibbs has been gone almost a day now." he peered outside tentatively, "Where'd he get to?" his voice was etched with worry

Ziva sat up, rubbing at her temple to fight away the nagging headache that lurked behind her eyes, "I do not think we need to worry about him."

"What?" he snapped, "He's our boss, our partner! He'd never just forget about us, or run off; and he's not dead. Just because he's been gone a day, you're ready to give up on him?" he was livid, slapping Ziva hard across the face with enough force to make her stumble back

"That isn't what I meant, Tony," she calmly told him, her eyes not meeting his harsh gaze, "What I mean is that he is an experienced sniper, a trained federal agent, and quite possibly the most stubborn person I have ever met. He is not going to allow anything to happen to himself, or to us. I do not think that after less than twenty-four hours, we should begin to panic."

Tony took in her words, knowing that they made sense. Gibbs was probably not dead after just one day. He had the knowledge and experience to keep him safe, and in all likelihood was fine. "Well, yeah. If you want to think _logically_..."

Ziva turned her back to him, "I am going to get breakfast." she wandered out into the rain, gathering a few plantains out of their stash. She stood out in the downpour, quietly nibbling at the fruit

He ran out to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Ziva, I didn't mean that you don't care. I know you do, even if you don't show it as clearly as the rest of us. Just 'cause you're not an Abby, doesn't mean you don't care. And I know that you never give up on anyone." he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him, "You haven't given up on me, right?" he noticed the thin trickle of blood trailing from her mouth. He gently wiped it away, "I'm sorry I hit you."

She picked up a plantain, holding her knife to it. She cleanly sliced the fruit down the middle, handing it to him, "If you ever strike me again, it will be the last thing you ever do." she told him with an eerily calm voice

He nodded, instinctively reaching down to protect his member, "Got it. Now, let's get out of this rain!" as they headed back to the shelter, the sun broke through the clouds, and the rain stopped, "Oh, of course..." he sighed

* * *

"They found him?" Abby perked up, but her excitement diminished when she saw Jen's sullen eyes

"The rescue crews found him out in the rain-forest, near the Columbian-Venezuelan border. He has a concussion, a broken wrist, and some bruised and broken ribs." Jen whispered, handing McGee a file, "He's being treated at a local hospital, and they'll transfer him to Bethesda once they make sure he's stable enough."

Ducky smiled, "Well, it sounds like he was rather fortunate! Considering the circumstances, his injuries are all relatively minor." he placed a hand on Abby's back, trying to calm her down a little. The girl was bouncing in her seat, her hand raised high in the air

"Yes, Abby?" Jen sighed

Abby stood up, and began to pace again, "Did they find Tony and Ziva? Are they okay? Is Gibbs gonna be back soon? Do they know what caused the crash? Do-"

McGee placed a hand tentatively over Abby's mouth, "Abbs, take a breath, okay?" he quickly removed his hand, feeling her tongue run against his palm, "Eww, Abby! That is disgusting!" he wiped his hand against his slacks

"I've been told that search crews haven't found anyone else yet, but at least now we know where to look." Jen assured Abby, letting the younger woman envelope her in a bone crushing hug, "They'll find them."

Jimmy raised his hand nervously, "Um, Director?"

"Yes?"

"What will happen if they find them? And aren't there guerrilla fighters all throughout that region? Its not exactly the most stable area politically right now, I mean the whole continent is about to blow up into an all out war, and-"

"Thank you, Mister Palmer for that optimistic synopsis of our current predicament." Ducky rubbed at his eyes tiredly, "I'm sure that Anthony and Ziva are fine, and are eagerly awaiting rescue; not in the hands of militants."

Abby shifted uncomfortably in her seat, flipping through the folder the Director had given them, "This is the wreckage?" she felt her hopes plummet at the sight of the charred remains of the aircraft,"Wow..." was all she could manage

* * *

A loud gunshot echoed through the forest, followed by the angry screeches of the local wildlife. Tony bolted up, peering out of the shelter, "Do you think that was Gibbs?" he looked back and forth, trying to find the origin of the shot

Ziva grabbed his collar, pulling him back in, "No! That was a rifle shot, Tony!" there was a sense of urgency in her voice, "Trust me, whoever fired that shot probably hunting; possibly hunting us." she quickly began to shove their supplies back into the bag, slinging it over her shoulder

Another shot rang out, louder than the last one. Tony tightened the brace on his knee, preparing to run if necessary, "Those shots are getting closer, aren't they?"

"Yes. Now we need to move, before we are found." she helped him up, struggling beneath the weight of the supplies, "And I do not think they are our rescuers."

Tony followed her out, carefully surveying the area, "Which way?"

Ziva looked around, indecisive, "I do not know, which way did the shot come from?"

A third shot came from somewhere close behind them. Tony grabbed Ziva's arm, "Not that way! Come on, into the trees!" he pulled her toward a the thick foliage, weaving between the trees. She kept pace with him easily, getting ahead of him quickly. "Ziva, slow down! I can't run!" he fell further behind her, clinging to a tree as he panted from pain and exhaustion

* * *

Ziva stopped after a moment. There were no more shots, and the forest was silent. She turned back, looking for Tony, "Tony? Where did you go?" she whispered, not sure if they were alone in the wilderness, "Tony!"

She heard a soft groan somewhere off to her left. Following the moans, she found Tony, lying in a pool of blood, "Tony!" she bolted to his side, brushing his hand away to see the wound, "I should not have gone so far ahead, I am sorry, Tony!" she kissed his forehead, trying to keep him awake

"Heh, I'm fine, Ziva." his voice was weak, and his eyes flickered open and closed, "'Tis but a flesh wound!'" he chuckled as she rummaged through the bag

"Tony, I need you to lie still for me. This may hurt, and for that I am sorry." she tore off his shirt, exposing the wound, deep into his left shoulder, "How that missed your heart, I have no idea..." she whispered in shock. That bullet could have easily killed him.

"Well, I _do_ have commitment issues..." he joked

She smiled, "Now relax if you can..." in the duffel, she found some improvised first aid supplies. _Please let this work!_

"Ziva? Why are you putting a _tampon_ in my shoulder?" he clenched his teeth, watching Ziva place a feminine hygiene product into his wound, "_Ah_!" he hissed, trying to ignore the pain

"Well, it is sanitary, the right shape and size for the wound, absorbent, and it can easily be removed and replaced," she explained, "See! The bleeding is slowing down!" she sighed with relief, helping Tony to sit up

"Wow...I don't feel too good..." he mumbled, his head spinning. He latched onto Ziva's shoulders, not trusting his own balance. He swallowed a few sips of the water Ziva forced to his lips, taking in some Tylenol with it. Ziva was trying to help, but he doubted regular strength Tylenol would do anything to help with the pain. He didn't have the heart to tell her that.

She leaned back against the trunk of a nearby tree, Tony's head resting in her lap, "We need to find help soon. That wound will quickly become infected otherwise." she sighed feeling helpless, "Hopefully, someone who _isn't _trying to kill us will find us." she stroked Tony's hair, watching him drift off to sleep, "You realize that I will wake you every few minutes, yes?"

He didn't answer, only snored softly into her lap.

* * *

AN: I heard that soldiers in Iraq actually carry feminine hygiene products with them, in case of emergency. This isn't something I just made up, tampons actually save lives! Don't believe me? Look it up!

Read and review, please! Bonus points if you can tell me what movie Tony was quoting!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry for the slow update, I've been busy with other fics, and this one got put on the back burner. My Spanish sucks, I can say "Yo quiero Taco Bell" and a few curses, but that's about it. For that reason, all "Spanish" is in italics. That way, no one has to translate, and no one ends up looking like an idiot (ie, me.). Enjoy!

* * *

Tony slowly woke up in Ziva's lap. She was dozing lightly, but opened her eyes, sensing his movement, "How are you holding up?" she asked, stroking his hair

He looked up, noticing that her blouse, saturated with rainwater, was clinging tightly to her cleavage, "Well, I've got a great view..." she smacked him, "Hey! I'm wounded!" he protested, "You're a horrible nursemaid, Ziva. I can picture you in the outfit though..." he let his mind paint that wonderful mental picture

She rolled her eyes, "Alright, I am going to assume from now on that anything stupid, derogatory, or sexist you say is a result of too little blood going to your brain. That way, I will be less likely to kill you. Perhaps more blood would get to your big head, if it were not being directed away to your little head." she looked down at the tent in his trousers

"Its a guy thing, it happens when we wake up." he defended

"Of course it is..."

* * *

Gibbs rolled over onto his side, trying to soothe the throbbing in his head. _What the hell happened?_ He surveyed his surroundings. He guessed it was either a hospital or some kind of clinic. _How did I get here?_

"_Ah, you are awake!" _A woman in scrubs came in speaking rapid fire Spanish, "_How are you feeling?"_

It took a minute for his brain to mentally switch languages. He hadn't studied Spanish since high school, but he was confidant he could carry on a conversation. "_Where the hell am I and how'd I get here? I feel fine, just tell me, did you find anyone else when you found me?"_

The woman shook her head, "_I do not think so. We found you at the bottom of a ravine. During the flash floods, the embankments get slick. You must have fallen in. There were marks carved in the trees all around the forest near where we found you. Search crews followed them but I do not know if they found anything or anyone."_

_That's right...I was following the river! _He remembered, _Yeah! I carved into the trees to mark a path...what happened after that though? _"_So you didn't find a man and a woman?"_

The woman shrugged, _"That is only what the rescuers told me, I am sorry. I am a physician, they called me once they found you. Your fever is down, and your wrist seems better. They will send you back to America very soon!" _she studied his injuries, seemingly pleased with his progress.

A phone mounted on the wall began to wring. The doctor answered it, curious as to who would have this number, "_Yes?"_

"I need to speak to a Special Agent Gibbs! Its really, really important!" a woman's voice spoke quickly

The doctor's brow furrowed, "_I am sorry, but I do not speak English very well. Gibbs?"_

"_Yeah," _the woman switched to Spanish, "_Gray hair, blue eyes, addicted to coffee, bad temper, kinda bossy..." _the woman began to list traits. While she continued her rant, the doctor handed the phone to Gibbs

"_A woman calling for you."_

"_...Ziva says he has a nice six pack, no idea how she knows that, but-"_

"Abby?!" Gibbs nearly fainted, "Abby, is that you?"

"Gibbs!" Abby squealed in delight, "Yay, you're alive!"

"Last time I checked, yeah," he chuckled, relieved to hear her voice

"You're coming home soon, right? What about Tony and Ziva, are they there too? Are they okay? Are they coming back with you? How did you survive that crash, from the looks of what's left of it, it looks like it had to have-"

"Abby, you're rambling again," Jen admonished gently, taking the phone from her, "Jethro? Are you there? You're on speaker now."

"Yeah, I'm here. Not exactly sure where 'here' is, but I'm here!"

He heard Ducky's voice chuckle warmly, "You're in Columbia, Jethro. Bogotá. Or at least presumably, since Abby and Timothy hacked into the hospital records to get this number."

"Well, we didn't 'hack' exactly, all the original coding is intact, and still encrypted, we just-" McGee began to explain but Abby punched him on the arm to silence his rant, "But, you don't really care, so I'll shut up now boss."

"How are you holding up?" Jen asked anxiously

"Been better, been worse," he didn't want them to worry. He'd been in worse conditions for a longer time, "Just waiting for them to send me home."

"What about Scott?" McGee asked, still focused on the case, "If they send you home, who are they sending to get our drug dealer." though Gibbs was in another hemisphere, he could see in his mind's eye the glare he was giving him, "I'm going to need to pack, aren't I?"

Abby hugged him tightly, "Be brave, Timmy!"

"No one's going anywhere yet except Jethro!" Jen ordered, "We still don't know what brought down that plane, for all we know, this was all a set up. Jethro, you're leaving Bogotá at 0900 Zulu, in about two hours."

Gibbs somehow found it fairly easy to contain his excitement, "Alright," he sighed, "Any word on Tony and Ziva?"

"Not yet boss," McGee spoke after a moment's silence, "But, I can assure you that search teams are out there, starting from near the river where they found you, and working their way to the wreckage. They'll find 'em."

Gibbs hung up the phone, feeling a deep depression wash over him. _I shouldn't have left. I thought I could find help for them. Instead, I'm sitting here in a hospital, waiting to go home while they're fending for themselves out in the wilderness, injured and without_ _much to go on..._

* * *

A few hours later a package arrived in Abby's lab. The search teams still had not been able to find Tony and Ziva, but they had found signs that they were alive. Mostly bandage wrappers, banana peels, and candy bar wrappers. They sent her evidence of their presence out in the rain forest, hoping NCIS could help pinpoint where they were.

McGee peered into the lab, "Abby? Find anything?"

She didn't answer. He assumed that she couldn't hear him over the music, but when he moved to turn it down, he heard a low growl over the loud music shaking the room. He turned to see Jethro guarding Abby's stereo. He sighed, "Abby? Why are you using my dog against me?"

She turned down the volume, "I'm not. He just likes this song!" she moved to her machines, "But yes, I did find something. I'm not sure if its hinky or kinky, but its definitely one, possibly both."

McGee's eyes widened, "I'm not sure I want to know...Do I?"

She held up an evidence bag containing a used tampon, "Do you know what this is, Timmy?"

"Um, very gross?" he felt his stomach churning away at the sight of it

Abby smacked him gently, "There's nothing gross about menstruation! I mean, it kinda sucks, pain, bloating, and bitchiness and all, but its just another biological function!" she rolled her eyes and picked up a DNA test, "Anywho, there's something kinky or hinky or both is going on with this tampon. I checked the string for epithelials, no surprise, they're Ziva's."

"Okay..." he wanted to run as far away as possible from this lab, and possibly never return

"But that's not the kinky/hinky part. The blood? It's not Ziva's. It's Tony's." she grinned at the expression on his face. All the color drained from it, and his eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates

"Wait, how is that possible?"

"Well, either Tony spent a lot of money recently on a very expensive, and very disturbing procedure, and just got his monthly, or they've found an unconventional use for feminine hygiene." she pulled up a news story on the plasma, "Some of the troops in Iraq use tampons to control the blood loss from bullet wounds. That got me thinking. I tested the tampon for traces of lead, to see if this tampon was used to plug up a bullet wound. Turns out, Tony was shot" her voice got soft

McGee pulled her into a hug, "Hey, he's probably okay. Ziva's taking good care of him, and they can't get too far if he's wounded. So if the searchers found this, they're probably really close already. They may have already found them."

Jethro moved away from his vantage point, guarding Abby's stereo and moved to comfort his mistress. He gently nuzzled against her bare legs, licking the sensitive spot behind her knee. Abby squirmed away giggling, "Jethro! Eww, pervert!" he continues his conquest of her legs, shoving his nose up her skirt, "Hey! That's rude, I barely know you!" she complained in mock offense

McGee nudged him away, "He's just trying to make you feel better, Abbs." he patted the dog's head, directing him back to his kennel, "Did it help?"

"Didn't hurt."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry for the super slow update! I've been busy with finals! Thank God its over for another six months! And, I've been enjoying the snow (yeah, we here in Oregon have snow in June!). I'll try to update all my stories in the next couple of days!

I know, this isn't very realistic, but I wanted to show a little of Ziva's animal magnetism...

* * *

Tony woke up alone, propped up against a tree. It had finally quit raining, much to his relief, and the sunlight was filtering in from the canopies above. The whole forest sparkled where the rain had fallen, giving the place an almost magical feel to it. If they weren't fighting for their lives, it would have been beautiful.

He checked his shoulder; Ziva's unusual remedy seemed to be working. The bleeding had all but stopped, and the wound itself was starting to scab over. It still was unbearably painful, but it didn't seem to be getting infected, "Well, that's gross. Kinda cool, but gross."

Looking around, he spotted Ziva crouching down near some bushes. She looked like an animal, hunting its prey. He couldn't figure out exactly what she was doing, but whatever it was, she seemed very determined.

"Hey, Ziva?" he whispered, trying to get her attention, "What are you doing?"

She raised her hand, signaling for him to be quiet, "Shh! Tony, I think I found out where those shots were coming from." he limped over to where she was crouched, "Look." at her feet rested a jaguar, nearly seven feet long, not counting the tail. Its golden coat was painted red with blood. Ziva was cleaning its wounds, much to the dismay of the creature, growling occasionally in frustration

"Ziva, its a wild animal! A vicious one at that!" Tony tried to drag her away from it, "And if its hurt, its more likely to hurt you. You're fast, but she looks hungry! Just let it be, it won't last much longer anyway!" he could tell she meant well, but he didn't want to see her end up as a snack for a jungle cat

"Tony, she is not going to hurt me," she assured him, and he almost believed her, "Poachers must have been after her; they are often hunted for their skins. It seems like such a waste to kill a creature for such petty reasons. And some people have the audacity to call this a sport? She is not biting, see?" the wounded beast licked at Ziva's palms, covered in its own blood, "Her wound is shallow, it grazed off of the bone; that is probably the only reason she is alive still."

"Its not a kitten, Ziva," he sighed, "You can't just take her home with you, buy some Purina Jaguar Chow, and keep her as a pet! Don't these things usually hate people?"

"They try to avoid humans, for obvious reasons. We are her only natural predator. The least I can do is try to patch her wounds. If not for her, than for her cubs," she explained, "If she dies, so do they."

"Cubs?!" his jaw dropped, "Since when are there cubs?" he looked around, slightly panicked, praying that there were no more angry creatures lurking, waiting to tear him and Ziva limb from limb

"She is pregnant, Tony," Ziva stroked the cat's rotund belly, "She is going to have cubs very soon, and they will not survive long without their mother." the cat rubbed its head against a rock, scratching at its ears, "See? She is feeling better already!"

"Ziva..." he knew there was no reasoning with her here. Logic would not be able to overcome the motherly instincts that even Ziva had. "You can stay with her for a little while, seeing as we obviously have no where else to be...Any ideas?"

* * *

Gibbs woke up as the plane bounced on the runway, signaling their landing. He waited until the nurse the hospital had sent with him came to check on him. After assuring him and herself that he'd endured the flight well, she helped him up. She had insisted that he use a wheelchair, at least until they got off the tarmac, but he stubbornly refused, walking off on his own with his head held high.

Much to his amusement, the first thing he noticed was a large glittery banner, held up by Abby, reading "Welcome home, Bossman". She bounced on her heels, happy to see him. She threw the banner away, running up to him excitedly, enveloping him in a hug, "Yay! You're okay!"

"Abbs, broken ribs, remember?" he pried her off, "Glad to see you too."

Ducky chuckled warmly, "Welcome back stateside, Jethro! How was your flight?"

"Long. Boring." he answered simply. Was there any other kind of flight? "Any word on Tony and Ziva?" he looked at them expectantly as they exchanged nervous glances, "Well?

"Um," Abby sighed, "Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" off his look, she decided it wasn't a good idea to start out with bad news, "Okay, good news first. Good news is, they found heat signatures from a few people; three pairs, all in the same general area. Bad news is, not all of those are Tony and Ziva. Search crews found several carcasses of jaguars, all of which had their coats harvested. There's a bunch of poachers out there with them, Gibbs."

"So? They're hunting animals, not people!" as heartless as it sounded, he didn't give a damn about the animals.

"Jethro, what they're doing is highly illegal," Ducky explained, "If they realize there are witnesses to what they are doing, let alone witnesses who are involved in law enforcement...well, they don't hesitate to break laws and kill without remorse any other time, why start now? If they were to find Tony and Ziva, I doubt that they would think twice about shooting them, just to cover their tracks." he shuddered at the thought of those two being hunted like animals, "Hopefully, with their level of experience, they will be able to evade the hunters until our search crews find them and get them to safety."

"Why haven't they found them yet? Where the hell are the search crews?!" Gibbs demanded, making his way to the car, insisting on driving in spite of Ducky's protests

"They are out there, but keep in mind there's a lot of ground to cover!" Abby told him, "Its a jungle out there, literally! They think they have it narrowed down to a half-mile radius, but they're doing a really good job of covering their tracks." with Ziva's Mossad training, alluding trackers was a simple task, "They're smart; they'll stay safe, I know it."


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I know, its been forever since I've updated this, but I hope it was worth the wait. Since the only Spanish I know is what I've picked up from kids at school, and isn't language one would use in polite conversation, Spanish is in italics. Plus, this way I don't have to go through and translate; easier for me, easier for you!

* * *

Tony stood up and stretched his legs, testing his strength. His test confirmed his initial suspicions that he was weakened by the blood loss. He did manage to move over to a small stream, by which Ziva was sitting. He resisted the urge to drink from the cool clear water, knowing full well that it was probably contaminated. They'd run out of drinking water a few hours ago, and even though he didn't need water, knowing they were out made him crave it even more.

"Hey, do we have anything to boil water in?" he asked Ziva, approaching her, but keeping his distance from her new pet

"No, I do not know what it would be," she sighed, "It has not stopped raining for three days now, so I do not think we will need to worry about thirst." she held her hands out in front of herself, cupped to catch the falling rain

Tony nodded, trying it for himself. Now that they were under thicker cover, the sheltering canopies allowed only a small percentage of the rain to trickle down to the forest floor. What did fall generally came down hard and fast, spilled off of thick leaved above. A splash of warm water fell on Tony from the trees above, drenching his head and shoulders, "Lovely. How's your pussy?" he teased

"Dead," Ziva replied, reaching for her knife, "I have been watching her for an hour, I knew it would be soon." she stroked the cat with a sort of respectful admiration

"Ziva? What are you doing?" his eyes were glued to the knife in her hand, "Are you gonna skin it?"

"No!" she was appalled, "Consider it an emergency C-section," she explained, cutting into the cat's belly, "They will only survive for a few minutes once the mother's heart stops beating. If they do not come out, they will die."

"Well, isn't that kind of risky?" he watched in fascination, "What if they're premature? Plus, how are you gonna feed them? Have you thought this through at all?"

"So I should sit here and do nothing, yes?" Ziva gently pulled out two little fuzzy cubs, coated in slime and blood, and rubbed them briskly, encouraging them to breathe, "Come on little ones, breathe," she encouraged. The little creatures eventually coughed and gasped, crying out for their mother, "There we are, you're alright."

"Wow," Tony picked up one of the cubs, while Ziva wrapped the other in her shirt, "So, are we legally in trouble here? I mean, we didn't shoot the mother, we didn't kill her, but is this technically kidnapping?" his eyes were glued to Ziva's chest, now only covered by a lacy black bra

"I do not know," she took the other cub from him, "That one is a boy, and this one is a girl," she told him, checking to confirm, "Hopefully when help comes, we can find a wildlife refuge, where they can care for these cubs."

Tony watched as Ziva cradled the crying cubs against her body, providing them with warmth. As strange as it seemed, it looked very natural, seeing Ziva with the babies. He remembered the time she'd yelled at him for picturing her pregnant. She was more maternal than she would ever admit. She would often watch over him and McGee, giving constructive criticism and keeping them in line. He could hear her softly singing a sweet lullaby in her mother tongue, and he too soon fell asleep.

* * *

Deep out in the jungle, a group of men wandered through the thick trees. Armed heavily, they lumbered through the mud. One of them began to complain, "_Why do we need all of this?" _when the group halted in a clearing, he dropped his heavy load of a couple of rifles and a pistol.

"_Because,"_ another explained, "_Did you see that jaguar? Aren't you glad we had guns? It would have made a snack of you!"_ he chuckled, "_Pity it ran off before we could get its pelt. They fetch quite a nice sum. Once we find Scott, and get our money, we can leave this damn jungle! We aren't leaving without our money, and he will not leave without the goods." _he gestured to a large crate, filled with 100 kgs of cocaine, waiting for sale and distribution

"_Enough!"_ their leader ordered, "_Miguel, Fransisco, head over to the stream and back, make sure we were not followed, Julio, Antonio, double back for about fifty meters, cover your tracks."_ his men nodded and followed out his orders. He looked around the clearing, "_Where are you, Scott? o_ut in the trees, a flashlight flickered on and off a few times. "_Finally!"_

* * *

Tony woke up abruptly, being shaken awake by Ziva. She looked frantic, not a look that suited her. This was something big, "Tony! Someone is coming!" she dragged him to his feet, which he allowed in spite of the pain it caused him, "They are nearby, across the stream."

"Great!" he started to run toward the water, ready to wade to salvation, but Ziva held him back, "Wait, don't you want to be saved? Don't you want to go home?!"

"Of course!" she dragged him into the dense cover, regretfully leaving the newborn cubs hidden in the bushes, "I heard them talking; they are definitely not here to save us. They were talking about a deal, and making sure they were not followed." the urgency in her voice had him worried

Tony nodded, glancing behind them, "Do you think these are Scott's contacts? Guess that means we're in Columbia. I think." he could hear footsteps behind them, and obviously Ziva did too, seeing as she tackled him to the ground

"Stay quiet!" she whispered, crouching low as she crawled around a tree to get a better look, "Tony, run!"

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk, feeling more helpless than he had for most of his life. The only time it had been worse was when he'd lost Shannon and Kelley. In a way, this was worse; he'd escaped while they were still out there. Perhaps if he had stayed, they would all be home safe by now.

McGee and Abby ran down the narrow passage between the rows of desks, stopping abruptly in front of Gibbs' desk, "Gibbs!" Abby was bouncing on her heels in excitement, "They may have found something!" she turned on the plasma, and switched it to ZNN news

"_The story continues in the search for two missing NCIS agents," _the news anchor reported, "_However there is a sign of hope out in the unforgiving jungles. A couple of newborn jaguar cubs were found an hour ago when searchers combed the area for the missing agents. The mother, killed by poachers, was found nearby. The cubs apparently had a close encounter with the agents, seeing as an NCIS t-shirt was found wrapped around the newborn cats. They cubs were taken to a local wildlife refuge, where they're said to be doing fine."_

"Abby, I don't give a damn about the kittens!" Gibbs buried his face in his hands in frustration, "McGee, is there anything useful you can tell me?"

McGee switched off the TV, "Um, that actually was a bit useful. If the cubs were newborns, and they found them with an NCIS shirt, that probably means that Tony and Ziva were there pretty recently. If searchers found the baby jaguars, they're probably on Tony and Ziva's tail." he could tell by the glare he was receiving that Gibbs didn't find the pun nearly as amusing as he did, "Sorry, boss."

"Don't apologize! Its a sign of weakness!" Abby growled in her best Gibbs tone

* * *

Tony turned around in time to see Ziva being tackled from behind my a large man. She struggled against his grip, but knew it was hopeless. Three days without adequate food, water, or rest was taking its toll on her. She looked over at him, angrily yelling, "Run, Tony! Get out of here, and leave me!"

At first, he almost let himself listen to her. But he wouldn't leave her there to be captured, or worse. He ran up to the man, stumbled rather, and punched him square in the jaw. He doubled back, releasing his hold on Ziva just long enough for her to wriggle free. "Didn't think I'd leave you, did ya?"

She grabbed at his arm, half dragging him behind her, "What were you thinking?! That will not subdue him for long!" she cursed repeatedly under her breath, "Come on, faster!"

"_Stay where you are!" _a voice commanded. They looked up the riverbank to see a man armed with a rifle trained on them, "_You are coming with us."_


	8. Chapter 8

Tony froze immediately, knowing that he would either be captured or killed regardless. With his shoulder, he knew he couldn't fight, and the crippling pain wouldn't let him get very far. One of the armed men grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him along. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Ziva had a different idea

She was fighting, and apparently winning. She had her assailant on his back, but a second attacker grabbed her from behind. He knew she wouldn't last much longer. Nearly a week without proper food, water, or shelter was taking its toll. The man from behind grabbed his sidearm, and struck her over the head with it. She slumped to the ground unconscious.

Tony tried to get away, and to run to her, but the man holding him was too strong, "_Leave her. You are both going to the same place anyway."_

He reluctantly let them lead him out into a clearing. He was thrown to his knees, with Ziva tossed to the ground beside him. He moved to her side, "Ziva, you okay? Come on, wake up!" he wiped away a little of the blood on her head from where she was struck. Hopefully, the damage wasn't too severe

"_You, what are you doing here? What business do you have with us?"_ one of them, apparently the leader of the group of thugs spoke to Tony in Spanish

"_I assure you, this is just a mix up! We're lost!"_ Tony tried to explain himself in a way that wouldn't get them killed, but his brain wasn't ready to switch languages, "Please, we just want to go home."

The men laughed, _"Home? Where is your 'home'?"_ he rummaged through the bags his men had retrieved, finding their passports, "_Hm, an American and an Israeli? Federal Agents as well." _he looked at the two of them appraisingly, "_Good news, I have decided not to kill you. Bad news, the two of you are coming with us. Fransisco, take them to the truck. Julio, stay here, and wait for Scott. If he does not show, too bad. We don't need his money; not when the US will pay dearly for its missing feds."_

One of the men, Fransisco apparently, grabbed Tony in a police hold, tied rope around his wrists, and threw him in the bed of an old truck. He was surprised the thing could even start. A few moments later, Ziva, still out cold, was thrown in the back with him. He didn't bother tying her up, either not seeing her as a threat, or not thinking she would survive. She looked pale as death, and he hadn't realized until now how thin she'd become. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her eat in days. She always claimed she had eaten while he was resting, but she was rationing most of the food, and letting him eat his fill. "Ziva, can you hear me?" he nudged her gently, trying to get her to come to, "Come on, wake up!"

She slowly stirred, looking around, "Tony? Wha' 'appened...my 'ead 'urts..." her speech was so slurred he could barely understand her, "Ow..." she moaned. That was the one thing he did understand

"Its..well, its not okay. I think we just got kidnapped by drug lords," she looked at him strangely, "I know, its not good, and I wish you _were _hallucinating." he noticed that Ziva was about to drift off again, "No! Ziva, bad girl! You stay awake, okay? No sleep. Once we're back home, you can sleep for a week, but for now I need you to stay with me, can you do that?"

She nodded bleakly, her eyes unfocused, "I'll try."

* * *

"Where are they!?" Gibbs barked, getting tired of asking that question, "McGee, if you have to hack a satellite to find them, do it! I don't care how many laws you break, how many people you piss off, get them Stateside, now!"

McGee was typing away at one of the computers in MTAC, "Well, I may have been able to do just that, boss!" he brought up an image on the huge screen beside them, "I have satellite surveillance of the Venezuela-Columbia border! They set up this link a few months ago, when they were worried about war erupting in South America. This feed watches the border twenty-four seven!"

"Where did you find that feed, Special Agent McGee?" the Director normally ate, slept and breathed protocol, but she was willing to look the other way this time

"Venezuelan Embassy," he told them, trying to zoom in and focus on areas that looked promising, "There's a truck...let me see if I can get a better look..."

"McGee, what good'll that do?" Gibbs squinted, not willing to put on the reading glasses he desperately needed for this, "There! Zoom in on that truck!"

"Okay, let me see what I can do..." he enhanced the image, showing the bed of the truck. From above, they could clearly see Tony and Ziva laying in the back. They looked a bit worse for wear, but they were both still alive, "That's them!"

"Good work, McGee!" Gibbs breathed a sigh of both relief and frustration, "Now, get me that truck! Find out where its been, who's driving, and where its going! Today, McGee!"

"Boss, that could take days!" off Gibbs' look he amended, "Today, boss!"

* * *

The truck stopped outside a little house that could use more than a little TLC. The roof looked like it was halfway caved in, and there were no doors or windows. This place screamed drug house, and smelled of narcotics. Tony was dragged inside, though he repeatedly told his captors that he could walk. He was tied to a chair, and waited patiently, "So, what? Do we get our one phone call? Or do you just call the White House ask for 'one million dollars'" he held up his pinky to the corner of his mouth, giving his best Doctor Evil impersonation, "And expect them to negotiate? The US won't negotiate with terrorists, and neither will Israel."

"_Shut up!"_ Tony'd begun to pick up names, and this was Miguel who had just slapped him across the face, "_If they do not, we have other uses for you. And especially for your little friend..." _he dragged in Ziva, who was apparently out cold again, "_I could have some fun with her..." _his eyes gleamed with malice and lust

"You touch her, and you die!" Tony threatened, "If you so much as look at her like that again, I will castrate you with-"

"_That is enough!" _Antonio handed Tony a cell phone, "_Call your contacts. Tell them that we will return the two of you safely in exchange for one million dollars. We will settle for five hundred thousand, but we get to do whatever we wish to you first. That includes your little girlfriend." _he threatened, "_Call, and put it on speaker."_

* * *

Gibbs looked at his cell phone. He didn't' recognize the number, but he did recognize the area code, so he picked up, "Yeah, Gibbs."

"_Boss? We've got a problem here!"_ he immediately recognized the voice, and he could tell that he was tired, weak, and in pain

"DiNozzo? You alive?" he asked, only half joking

"_For now. We somehow ended up kidnapped by Columbian drug lords, several of whom have the hots for Ziva, who's currently incapacitated. They want a million bucks, and they'll let us go." _Tony spoke quickly, and stopped to take a breath, "_They want the money by tomorrow. If they don't have it, you have another day to get them a half million, and during that extra day, they get to do whatever they want to me and Ziva."_

"What do you want me to do, Tony?" Gibbs felt helpless, knowing that he didn't have a million dollars to pay their ransom, and that the US would not pay for it either, "What if we don't pay anything?"

"_They use us as drug mules," _Tony guessed, _"That or just kill us. Neither sounds pleasant. They've got guns, but I don't think they'll let us go out that quick and easy."_

"Don't you give up on me without even trying, Tony!" Gibbs scolded, "You're better than that! Tell those_ pendejos_ that you'll be out of there by morning!"

* * *

AN: Sorry for the slow update, I hope it was worth it! The heat waves have knocked out the web off and on for the past week. And its always been down when I try to log in.

Reviews make me very happy! They're like my caffeine, I can't write without them!


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Warning: contains spanking of an adult!

* * *

As soon as the call disconnected, Tony silently prayed that Gibbs would find a way. Hopefully, they could be reached within twenty-four hours. He really didn't care what they did to him, judging by the burning sensation that started in his shoulder and was now radiating out, he wouldn't last too long. Ziva was made of tougher stuff than he was, there was no argument there, but if these guys had their way...he didn't want to think about it.

The leader of the group of thugs, they still didn't know his name, began barking orders again, "_Fransisco, Antonio, take them downstairs and show them to their room."_

"_With pleasure," _Fransisco cut the ropes binding Ziva to the chair and threw her over his shoulder, "_Come with me, love."_

"_Fransisco!" _Julio yelled at him, "_You are not to touch her! Their countries will not pay the full ransom if we do anything to them. We wait a day, then we fuck her." _he sneered, throwing open the door to the basement

"_If you so much as touch a hair on her head," _Tony threatened, "_I swear it will be the last thing you ever do." _he really wasn't in a position to be making threats, especially considering he was being escorted at gun-point down into a dark, dank basement, where no one would ever hear him scream

"_We will do whatever we want to you and your girlfriend," _Antonio sneered, "_Your countries will not pay ransom! As you have said, we are terrorists! I would not fear though. Once the girl gets to know me, she will beg for me to ravage her!"_ he laughed wickedly, locking the two captives below

* * *

McGee was desperately checking every satellite, every security camera, every database he could get into. So far, there wasn't anything too promising. The vehicle they'd seen from the satellite was of course, stolen. And tracing the call had only narrowed it down to a radius of ten miles, and the drug dealers had shut off the phone.

"Boss, I've only narrowed it down to a section of the rainforest," McGee sighed, "A section that is less charted than the surface of Mars. Ten mile radius; that's over three hundred square miles."

Gibbs stood up from his desk, staring down the younger agent, "I can do math, McGee. What I can't do is understand why you're busy telling me we've got nothing! Any idea what they're going to do with them if we don't get them quick enough?"

McGee stepped back nervously, "Um, no. Come to think about it, I don't want to know."

"Welcome to reality, McGee!" Gibbs stared at the circled area on the map on the plasma, "They'll kill them eventually; they know too much. Probably rape Ziva, make Tony watch! Torture them to within an inch of their lives, then just when they heal enough they think its over, they'll start it up again. That's what's going to happen to them, McGee. That's what we've given them."

Abby was sitting at Ziva's desk, whimpering softly, "Don't say that Gibbs! We'll find them, we have to!" Ducky put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Just because you're ready to give up on them doesn't mean we are!"

Gibbs walked up to Abby slowly and deliberately. He gestured for her to stand, which she reluctantly did. He sat down at her now vacant chair, and bent Abby over his knee, giving her a hard swift smack on her rear end, "I told you it wouldn't be on the head. Since when have you _ever_ known me to give up on something, much less a member of my team?"

"Never," Abby straitened up, rubbing her sore ass, "Man, were you a dom in a past life?"

"A 'Dom'?" Gibbs asked, puzzled

"Don't ask," McGee cautioned

* * *

Tony manged to find Ziva in the dark, holding her to him. She was still fading in and out of consciousness, in spite of his efforts to keep her awake, "Hey, come on! You can sleep for a month once we're out of here. You can go home, sleep in your own bed," he nudged her gently to no avail, "Fine, just rest. You're gonna need your strength."

Ziva looked up at him bleakly, her eyes unfocused and lucid, "Tony? Where are we?" she lay her head back down in his lap, too weak to sit up

"Some basement," Tony told her, "I called Gibbs; he's looking for us. Before you know it, he'll have us out of here and we can go home, get checked out by a doc, and eat cheeseburgers! Lots of cheeseburgers...with onions, and sesame seed buns..."

"Tony, stop!" she groaned, " You are making me hungry." her stomach growled angrily, sending a strong ache through her body, "When did we last have food?"

Tony sighed, wishing he could fix it all, "About two days ago. No wonder you're starving. Me? I've got surplus," he pinched a ridge of fat on his stomach, the last strip standing between him and a six pack, "You however are a little bit of a thing. You're all muscle, no fat. You need to eat, like a lot."

She smiled in spite of the situation, "Once we are out of here, you are buying me a cheeseburger." she told him

"Those aren't kosher, are they?"

She glared at him, "Do you _really_ think I care at this point?"

"Shutting up," he laughed, quieting down as he heard a door creak open. Someone was coming down the stairs. He fought the urge to scream as his shoulder burned with pain as he dragged Ziva into the shadows, "Shh, someone's coming."

"_Alright, where are you hiding?"_ Miguel called, "_I mean the two of you no harm, please just come out."_

Tony poked his head around the corner, trying to find him in the dark. It was a lot easier once Miguel lit a camp light. He had a box, filled with who knows what, that he set down on the floor, "Ziva, stay quiet. I don't know what he wants, but don't trust him!" he turned to his partner, now unconscious again, "Of course..."

"_Tony? Ah, there you are," _Miguel shined the light in his direction, "I swear, I mean you no harm." he switched to English, sliding the box across the concrete floors to them, "Look for yourself." the box was filled with first-aid supplies, bottled water, and best of all food. Tony checked the seals on the bottled water, making sure they were safe to drink. "If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it already. It is safe, I swear."

Tony greedily guzzled down one of the water bottles, not realizing how thirsty he'd been until that thirst was satisfied. "So, why play 'Mister nice guy' all of a sudden? You slapped me, and were discussing with great enthusiasm how you were going to violate Ziva."

He crouched down to Tony's level, "Where is the little _chica_? The last time I saw her, she did not look so good."

"Answer my question," Tony demanded

"Look, my boss...he is as you say, an idiot." Miguel sighed, "He has hostages from a federal agency, and the daughter of Mossad's leader!" off Tony's look he added, "Oh, come now! We deal drugs all over the world, and of course we know who to avoid. Director David does not like drug dealers. Every attempt we have made at smuggling them into Israel since he became director has been thwarted! When I saw her name on her passport, I was suspicious, and the resemblance is uncanny." he finally saw Ziva, slumped over in the shadows, "She looks very much like her father. However such traits look far better on her."

"What do you want then?" Tony asked, still shielding Ziva behind him

"A deal. If, or rather when we are caught, we will never see daylight again," he explained, "But if I tried to help you and your friend-"

"You're hoping to get off easy." Tony finished knowingly

"Yes. Do you want my help or not? That shoulder looks infected and inflamed, and Fransisco hit her on the head pretty badly. Has she come around yet?" his voice showed genuine concern, in addition to fear for his own well being

Tony finally stepped aside, allowing Ziva some of the help she desperately needed. "She comes in and out. Right now, she's unconscious."

Miguel nodded, brushing Ziva's hair aside to check her injury, "Oh, he did not need to be nearly that brutal!" his fingers were tinged red with blood as he gently looked her over, grateful that she couldn't feel this, "He cracked her skull. It is a small miracle that she is still breathing, much less that she was able to come around. There is not much I can do for her. I can clean the wound and give her something for the pain, but she needs a hospital."

"Just do what you can," Tony requested, gripping Ziva's hand protectively

Their captor turned savior poured a bottle of antiseptic on her gash, cleaning it out. He found a deep cut and a bruise on Ziva's collarbone, "These injuries here are older, from your crash I presume?" Tony nodded, "They are already healing well, a clean covering is all they will need."

"So, you think she's going to be okay?" Tony asked, gripping Ziva's hand a bit tighter as she winced from the antiseptic stinging at her wounds

"I cannot say for sure," he handed Tony some bandages and more antiseptic, "That is for your shoulder. Flush it out with the antiseptic every so often. It will burn fiercely, but it will let you keep your arm." he reached into the box for a vial of a strange clear liquid and a syringe

"Whoa! No, no way!" Tony took the needle from him, "You are _not_ shooting her up with God knows what!"

Miguel effortlessly took it back, "As I told you before, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now. It is only morphine. While illegal to use in this manner, it will ease her pain a bit. We have a large shipment of it from our suppliers. It is a low dose, seeing as that was all we could procure, but it is better than letting her suffer." he emptied the contents of the syringe into Ziva's arm, "There you are, _chica. _That will help."

* * *

AN: Are Miguel's intentions as kind as he claims them to be? Will they find them in time? Come on, don't be shy, press that little bluish purple button! Over 100 reviews already! Whoohoo! Congrats to Mere-Bear-Marry for being #100


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, guys! Keep it up, and I'll update faster!

* * *

Tony sat under the rickety stairway, holding Ziva's head in his lap. He hadn't really noticed before how much blood she had lost. Her dark hair hid it well, concealing her injury. Grateful for her dazed state, he poured some antiseptic on her head, running his fingers through her hair to help clean her scalp. He was both relieved and worried that she didn't seem to care. Finally, she began to come around, "Tony? Where are we? Why is my 'ead 'urting...?" she groaned looking around

"Damn, drugs must be wearing off," Tony rummaged through the box Miguel had left with them, "Let's see here...I have some snacks?" he offered, "Water, granola bars..."

"We 'ave water?" she reached for the bottle in his hand, "Why was I not informed?" her uncoordinated fingers struggled with the seal on the bottle, "Tony? Help?"

He took the bottle from her, "Yeah, hang on a sec." he removed the lid, and held the bottle to her lips, not trusting her to be able to drink it on her own, "Just take little sips...or you could do it that way." she drained the bottle in less than a minute, "Thirsty much?"

She nodded, "Any more?" she too started to look through the box, "Can I 'ave this?" she grabbed another bottle of water, one of at least a dozen in the kit provided

"No, no more water," he sadly, but easily took the water from her hands, "You'll probably puke if you drink any more. How about something to eat? Balance out all that liquid you just chugged?" he looked her over, not missing her recent weight loss. It had only been a few days, but the malnutrition was already taking a toll on her

"I will eat almost anything," she leaned back, her eyes half-closed

"Here, try that," he offered her a piece of chocolate, one of the few luxuries in Miguel's care package, "If nothing else, it will help get some calories in you. Keep in mind, chocolate here isn't like chocolate in America or Europe. Its usually kind of spicy. Not bad, but not that good either."

"Hm?" she had already eaten most of it, not really paying attention to what he was saying, "What?"

"Nothing." he dug deeper. Apart from what they only had on Miguel's word was morphine, there wasn't anything he could give her for the pain. And for some reason, he didn't trust a bunch of misogynistic drug dealers to take care of his partner, "How bad's the pain?"

"Not bad. I have been through worse," she told him, her voice neutral. The scariest part was, he knew it was true, "I will live. How is your shoulder?" she reached over, lightly tracing her fingertips over his wound, "Any better?"

"Yeah, bandages and antiseptic will do that," he pulled his shirt away, letting her have a better look, "What about your head?"

She shrugged, "What about it?"

* * *

"Oh, this had better be good," Gibbs muttered coldly, walking up into MTAC, stepping over Abby's bubble wrap GEWD (Gibbs Early Warning Device). "Abbs, what did I tell you about the bubble wrap?"

"Sorry," Abby told him, "I told Director Shepherd, and she adapted the idea. It works...just as long as you don't look down and see it." she picked it up off the floor, setting it in a pile on one of the empty chairs

"Jethro, we may have a lead on their location," Jen pulled up a map on the screen, "The last place we knew they were was in this radius, right?"

Gibbs squinted, looking at the traced circle which McGee made bolder from one of the control panels, "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, a few days ago, Santa Monica hospital reported a break in," she zoomed in on the hospital, just inside Columbia's borders, "No one was hurt, but the thieves made off with a month's shipment of morphine."

"Fortunately, with a shipment that large, they have to have a way to track it!" McGee highlighted an area inside the circle, "The tracking device packed away inside the crate was last active here, along Domingo Boulevard. There's really nothing there. The whole area is... well, I wouldn't call it residential, but there's no business there. There are a few homes, but that's it."

"You think they're holed up there?" he looked at the four houses shown on the plasma, all of which were run down and in serious need of repair "Hell, they all look like drug houses to me!"

"Yes, but if they make contact with us again, we can trace the call to a specific house," McGee smiled proudly, "keep them on the line for about thirty seconds, and Abby and I can give you their location, accurate to the size of a postage stamp!"

Gibbs tousled the younger agent's hair, "That's good work, McGee."

* * *

Ziva woke up, leaning heavily against Tony, not having realized she'd fallen asleep. She was wearing his shirt, which was torn and bloody, but it was still a thoughtful gesture. She managed to slip away from him unnoticed, searching the box for something to eat, "I would kill for real food now..."

"That makes two of us," Tony chimed in, grabbing a bag of peanuts, "Hardly gourmet, but its food!"

The stairway above them creaked, heralding the arrival of their captors. Not knowing who was coming, they stashed away the box, leaving it at the mercy of the rats under the stairs. Tony shoved Ziva behind him, not willing to let them take her without a fight. "_Who's there?_" he called boldly

Julio and Fransisco showed themselves, the faint light from the run down house above giving them an unholy glow about them. "_Your time is nearly up,_" Julio pointed out, "_We have tried the Americans, let's see if the Israelis will give us what we want." _he tossed a prepaid cell phone to Ziva, "_Call your people, tell them as much as you want. Let them know they have six hours before we take things to the next level."_

Tony placed a hand on Ziva's shoulder, "Who ya gonna call?" he was tempted to add 'ghostbusters!' to that statement, but rethought it

Ziva sighed, dialing a familiar number, "My father."

* * *

"_Shalom?"_ a deep, tired voice answered, "_It is either very early, or very late. You must have a good reason for calling me here."_ he wasn't used to receiving personal calls anymore. He didn't really have any need for them either. But generally, if someone calls your work at such an ungodly hour, its either a telemarketer, or someone who knows you well enough to know that you would still be working

"_Aba?" _Ziva managed, "_Aba, I need your help." _the man on the other side of the conversation perked up, recognizing his child's voice

"_Ziva? Why, what is wrong?" _he immediately got up from his desk, signaling to his secretary to begin tracing the call

"_My partner and I have been kidnapped by Columbian drug lords, and they intend to mutilate and torture us to death, unless they receive an exorbitant ransom." _she sighed, "_They want a million dollars within six hours, if we are to remain unharmed. Well, we are already harmed, but they will not further injure us for a while; Tony has been shot, and one of them struck me over the head with his gun."_

Benjamin David cringed, feeling his fingers tightening around the receiver, "_The money is not an issue. I will have it wired to their account, provided I have proper information." _he prompted, knowing Ziva would understand that he needed another minute

"_Let me ask,"_ she turned to her captors, "They wish to know where to send the money."

The two men looked at each other in surprise, "There is a PO box in Bogotá; number 53789. Have them send it there. Small bills, overnight shipment."

"_Aba, did you hear that?" _Ziva asked

"_The postal system would be too slow!" _he insisted, "_Tell me where you are, and I will deliver the money myself!"_

Ziva turned to them again, "He wishes to deliver the money to you in person. To avoid unnecessary delay."

"But of course," Julio grinned, "232 Domingo Boulevard. If the money is not here within six hours, we will send you to your beloved father in a matchbox."

Tony tightened his grip around Ziva's middle protectively as the two men ascended the stairs. "They have no idea who your dad is, do they?"

"Not a clue." she smiled


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Thanks for waiting, guys! I've got a lot to do before next school year, and its piling up. Next chapter rating may change, so keep an eye out for it! I know its short (again), but the next one will be longer!

* * *

Tony sat staring out the tiny basement window, watching the rain pool around the glass. He'd been watching the colored light from outside, waiting for the last of their time to run out. They had maybe an hour left, if that, and each second was ticking away faster and faster.

"Ziva?" he nudged his partner's sleeping form, "Hey, Ziva! Wake up!"

She groaned, turning away from him, "_No...let me sleep."_

He rolled his eyes at her, "No, not now. Look, we've only got a little time left. You need to get up, Ziva." he pleaded, shaking her gently

Ziva slowly forced herself up, sitting leaning heavily against the stairs, "If they are going to do...whatever it is they are going to do to us, why can I not spend another few minutes sleeping?"

He offered her the contents of the box, down to just a few snacks and some bandages, "I figured you'd want to eat something while we still had the chance," he took half of the last water bottle, handing her the rest, "eat up, and drink as much as you can. Things are gonna get a bit rough, and you'll need your strength."

She nodded, taking a few shaky sips, "Then what?"

Tony sighed, "I have no idea."

* * *

"I don't care if its not 'consistent with standard protocol'," Gibbs barked, not willing to back down on this one, "We've got a location! We know they're holding two of our agents! We know they've been smuggling drugs in and out of every town between here and Buenos Ares, what more do you want?"

The SecNav shrugged, "Its out of my hands, Agent Gibbs."

"The hell it is!" Jen snapped, "Two of our agents are out there, being held captive, having God knows what done to them. If we act now, we have a snowball's chance in hell of getting them out of there alive. Now if you're not willing to do that, I'm sure the press will be happy to hear that when faced with a chance to save them, you decided on the diplomatic approach."

Even viewed only on a screen, miles away, the two glares he was faced with could melt steel. "Okay. What do you suppose we do then?"

"We've got agents down there at the embassy, send a few down there to get our guys out!" Gibbs suggested, "Hell, nuke Columbia for all I care!"

"Jethro..." Ducky scolded, shaking his head in disbelief

"What? Would you miss it?" Gibbs asked, looking around the room, "Anyone here miss Columbia if it were gone?"

"That's not the point, Jethro. We can't just nuke a country over this," Jen sighed, "You'll have to excuse him, Stan. He was one of those kids in elementary school who needed improvement in the category, 'plays well with others'."

"Duly noted, Director," the SecNav grinned, "I'll see what I can do regarding your agents, and see if aid can be sent from the embassy there. But my hands are tied, so don't hold your breath."

As the screen turned dark, Jen heard a sharp intake of breath from beside her, "Jethro!" she elbowed him in the ribs, forcing him to exhale, "Drama queen." she muttered

* * *

A haunting creaking from the stairway echoed through the basement as Miguel wandered downstairs. The harbinger of bad news, he searched the concrete room for their captives. "_Anthony, Ziva?" _he called, "_Come out, both of you!"_

Tony stepped out of the shadows, putting Miguel in a headlock, "Hi! If you don't let us go, I'm going to kill you!" he smiled like a madman, gripping him tightly around the neck

"_Stop, alright!" _he easily pulled off his assailant, "_You are embarrassing us both. Where is your girl?" _he asked, his eyes searching the basement

"That's for me to know, and you not to find out," Tony told him, pacing the room

Miguel reached into his pocket, "Look, your time is nearly up. In twenty minutes, whatever they do to you and your girl is fair game. Would you rather her be awake and aware of what they are doing to her, or have her be too dazed to care? Too numb to feel it?" he had another syringe, ready and waiting

Tony swore under his breath, "Last time, I trusted you. That was different. Once our time's up, you're gonna kill us anyway. How do I know you're not just going to shoot her up with poison?"

Miguel considered this, "I could kill her, yes. But if I do, it will be my hide. Them?" he pointed upstairs, "They want to do things to her you can't even imagine. They will not end her suffering so soon. Killing her would be merciful to her, but a death sentence for me."

Regretfully, Tony led Miguel over behind the support column, where Ziva was concealed in the shadows. He'd let her go back to sleep after she'd eaten, knowing she would need every ounce of strength for her upcoming ordeal. "You know its guys like you that make me happy with what I do? I sleep better at night knowing people like you are locked up far, far away from me."

"Yes, yes," he sighed, not really caring, "Hold her down, in case she wakes up."

Tony put an arm around her sleeping form, pulling her close. She squirmed a bit, making herself comfortable against his chest. She barely flinched as the needle slipped into her arm. After the drug was administered, she opened her eyes briefly, sensing that something was amiss. "Tony?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he rubbed slow circles on her arm, noticing how cold her skin was, his hand concealing the needle marks from her view, "What's wrong?" he let her head fall back on his shoulder, cradling her as she hell back asleep

She shrugged, "Nothing."


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Warning- adult content, nothing graphically detailed though. You're probably going to hate me for this one. If you don't like it, no one is forcing you to read it

* * *

Ziva sighed tiredly, not raising her head from its resting place on Tony's shoulder. Her eyes were glued to the same place as his were, fixed on the small window, watching as the last light of hope faded away. Their time was up, and no one was coming.

"They're not going to take you without a fight," Tony assured her, practically reading her mind, "I won't let them hurt you."

She shook her head, praying he would be able to hold true to his word, "You cannot fight them off," she reminded him, "Your shoulder is too badly wounded, you will only injure yourself trying."

"So...what?" he asked, feeling his blood boil, "I just sit back and watch? Plug my ears so I don't hear you screaming? Hey, maybe they'll ask me to help?" he could feel his nails drilling into her arm as he gripped her tightly. Thankfully, she didn't notice. He sighed sadly, loosening his grip on her, regretting his outburst, "Ziva, I didn't mean-"

"Don't," she cut him off, "I know. I know that this is not how either of us ever imagined spending this past week, but we cannot let this beat us."

He smiled, grateful for her presence and words of wisdom, "It won't."

* * *

Fransisco and Julio ran down the stairs, storming the basement. Antonio and Miguel followed at their heels, blocking the only exit behind them. "_Your time is up, feds! No one is coming for you..." _Fransisco cracked his knuckles, slowly and methodically pacing the room, "_Who wants to go first, hm?"_

"_Come out, hiding is no fun,"_ Julio called in a singsong voice, "_We will find you, you're not delaying us much."_

Tony bravely stepped out of the shadows, eying his competition. Even in his peak, getting into a brawl when he was outnumbered like this would have been foolish. Drug lords weren't known for picking fair fights. He knew he must have looked like a joke to them; malnourished, tired, wounded, and more than a little pissed. "Bring it on." he declared

They laughed at him, doubled over, "_Please, do not embarrass us! It is too late for you, but we have pride!" _Antonio snickered

"_Enough," _Fransisco cut them off, "_You are in for a treat my friend!" _he walked up to Tony, patting him on the back, "_You are just in time for the show!"_

Miguel dragged an unconscious Ziva out from under the stairs. He threw her limp body into the middle of the dark concrete dungeon. She slid a bit before coming to a rest at Tony's feet. Her breathing was slow, but even. The drugs cycling through her body left her in a daze, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.

Tony felt his palms begin to bleed as his nails dug into his balled fists, "_Leave her alone. You touch her, I kill you." _he hissed

"_You are in no position to be making threats," _Miguel reminded him, "_Besides, you should be grateful. First of all, you are still alive only by our wishes. Second, because she is your girl, you get first go."_

Tony stared back at him in disbelief, "_What?!"_ he crouched down next to Ziva. They wanted him to do what?

"_You heard him,"_ Julio laughed, tearing away the last of Ziva's clothing, leaving her completely exposed, "_She's all yours!"_

Tony swore under his breath repeatedly. He honestly didn't think he was capable of doing this. She was his partner, his friend. She'd cared for him during the darkest times, asking for nothing in return. He'd promised to protect her, and yet now he was the one forced to hurt her in ways no one should ever have to endure.

He gazed at his audience, sneering and undoubtedly making crass comments and snide remarks. He stood his ground in defiance, not willing to bring himself to hurt her.

"What's the matter?" Antonio asked, "Are you gay or something? If you can't get hard from her, there is something wrong with you!"

"Oh, there's something wrong with _me_?!"Tony snapped, disgusted with all of them

"Hey, if you don't want to..." he looked over Ziva appraisingly, "I'd be happy to. But so you won't have to deal with the shame of having a cheating whore..." he pulled out a semi-automatic, "we will spare you the indignity. Start with the eyes, so you won't watch. Then the ears, so you won't hear..."

Tony fought back bitter tears, crouching down beside Ziva. He brushed a hand against her cheek, testing to see if she would respond. She was still completely cut off from the world around her. He picked up her hand and brought it up to his lips, "Ziva, please forgive me..."

* * *

"_Grab your gear and get in position! You should have been here long before now!" _Director David paced the dirt road, tossing weapons to any unarmed man, "_Find Ziva and the American, kill all the others, are we clear?"_

The group of armed guerrillas around him nodded, moving silently into position. The Director was beyond furious at this point. All sense of rational thought was lost to him now. Time was running out for the two agents, and he wouldn't stand for it.

"_Stop!" _the Director ordered, sensing something was amiss, "_Hershel, Aaron, back in those trees, check the area!"_

The two officers nodded, quickly charging into the trees, weapons in hand. Aaron turned to his partner, "_I have never seen the Director like this! He never works out in the fields, ever. He is being irrational. We must be more cautious. Does he want us killed?"_

Hershel laughed, "_Right now, he is not our Director. He is a father, looking for his child; a child taken from him. Stay clear of him, at least until Ziva is found safe."_

"_And if she is not found safe?" _Aaron asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer

The other man considered this for a moment. "_I am not sure. I don't want to be around if such a thing happens. But I am glad that he is on our side."_

The two officers flanked the suspicious section of the forest, preparing for the ambush. Weapons drawn, they pounced swiftly onto the intruders, "_Show us your hands, do not move if you value your life!"_

"Whoa, whoa!" a silver haired man stepped out of the dense cover, arms raised, weapon in hand, "We're on the same side her. Mossad, right?" he looked over the Israelis, armed and clad in camouflage, "NCIS. We're here to help."

Aaron frisked the man, finding a half dozen other weapons on him, "NCIS?" he found the man's badge, "Agent 'Gibbs'?"

"That's what they call me," Gibbs nodded, "You done?"

"For now," Hershel handed Gibbs back his weapons and badge, "You should not have come here."

"Oh?" Gibbs followed the two men back toward a decrepit old house, half covered in vegetation. A dozen other officers all had their eyes glued on Gibbs

"We do things differently," Aaron explained, "In a moment, this house will be a bloodbath. No prisoners, just casualties. We do things differently than in your country. For being here, you could be arrested, tried, and persecuted for doing the right thing. Us? We do not care. We are doing the right thing, and that is all that matters. You my friend? May run into trouble ahead."

"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take," Gibbs told him, watching as the rest of his team being led out by other officers, their places of concealment not nearly good enough to fool Mossad's keen operatives

"_Who are these men?"_ Director David approached angrily, eying Gibbs in particular, "_You are either with us, or you die, those are your options!"_

"Easy there, we're on your side!" Gibbs smiled, seeing where Ziva got her fire from, "Name's Gibbs. This is McGee, Sullivan, Andretti, and Anderson. NCIS." he introduced his team, most of whom were cowering in the face of Uzis armed and trained on them

"Um, boss?" McGee held up his watch, "We're out of time."

* * *

From their seats on the stairs, the group of men hooted and hollered, cheering Tony on, making him sick to his stomach. He let the tears flow, dripping silently onto Ziva's sleeping form. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the world, but to no avail. To his surprise, he felt a warm hand close over his, making him open his eyes. He could see Ziva's soft dark eyes staring back at him. He'd expected to see them frightened, hurt and livid at the indignity being committed. Instead, they reflected trust and understanding. "Ziva?" he tentatively whispered

She smiled weakly, trying to console him a bit. Yes, she was angry. Yes, she was scared, hurting, and feeling the kind of dirty you could never wash away. But there was nothing that could be done.

As shots rang out, Tony threw his body over Ziva's, covering her as much as possible. Chatter and commotion upstairs continued closer and closer to the basement. The whole uproar lasted less than a minute, but felt like an eternity. Once things quieted down, Tony raised himself up onto his elbows, "What the hell?"

"Tony?" Ziva murmured, barely able to stay awake. He hushed her, hearing faint footsteps from behind him

"_Get off of her you animal!" _Director David aimed to kill, saving his last bullet for this moment

"What the hell are you doing?" Gibbs wrestled the gun away, "He's one of ours! Tony! Ziva!"

"...Boss?"

* * *

AN: I want your honest opinion on this one; the little button's right there in the corner, and it looks lonely...


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Thanks for the reviews, and thanks for being honest with me on that last chapter. Sorry if it wasn't your cup of tea

* * *

"Boss, you're okay!" Tony shakily rose to his feet, well aware that he had accusing eyes on him, "Look, its...exactly what it looks like, but-"

"We know, Tony," Gibbs assured him, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "You did what you had to. Its over now though."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief, crouching back down next to Ziva, "You hear that?" he patted her cheek softly, confirming that she was out again, "They're gonna get us out of here, and everything's gonna be fine."

Director David sat down on the floor, trying to get Ziva to come around, "Ziva?" he worriedly glanced her over, not missing her ghastly appearance; she was covered in blood and very thin, "_hakol b'seder, bat..."_ he soothed, gently gathering her up in his arms

"Um, okay?" Tony didn't understand a word of that, but the message was clear. He didn't even need to ask to know who this man was. "Director David? I'm really sorry. I had no choice; if I hadn't, they would have killed us both and-"

"Stop. I know. That doesn't men that I like it, or approve of it, but I understand."

"Hey, boss!" McGee called from the entryway above, "I think we got them all, but no sign of Tony and Ziva!"

"McGee! Stop yelling and get down here!" Gibbs bellowed

Nodding curtly, he ran down the stairs, several officers in tow, "I can't believe it went down that fast! We didn't lose any on our side thankfully..." he became very quiet, looking around at the bloodbath around him. In addition to the bodies of the drug lords, Tony and Ziva were both bloody, bruised and sickly looking. "Please tell me I didn't speak too soon."

"They are not trained to die, Agent McGee," Ziva's father reminded him, "Those medics are still waiting outside, yes?"

"Um, yeah," he thought for a second, "They should still be on standby." he still couldn't believe his eyes, seeing Tony and Ziva alive again after all that had just happened, "Tony, were you shot?!" he noticed the loosely bandaged shoulder, now oozing blood again

"Heh, yeah," Tony checked it, "Its doing better."

McGee removed his jacket, draping it over Ziva lightly, "Oh, my God...what happened?"

"Hopefully, Tony can fill us in," Gibbs looked at his agent expectantly as they made their way upstairs and out to the medics

Tony wasn't looking forward to this conversation, but he knew it was coming. "Well, for starters there's that gash on her head from the plane crash, its almost healed up now. Then they bashed her over the head with a pistol to incapacitate her. That was yesterday; she's not doing too good. And 'out of the kindness of his heart'- actually, it was because he was afraid of you," he gestured to Director David, "that guy shot her up with morphine." he stepped over Miguel's lifeless body, "And I...I-"

"We know, and no," Gibbs cut him off, "You don't have to talk about it." he couldn't imagine the pain, being in Tony's current situation. In all likelihood, Ziva had already forgiven him. But Tony wouldn't forgive himself so easily.

"Thanks boss," he gently picked up Ziva's hand, "I know its a sign of weakness, but I'm weak. I'm sorry Ziva."

Ziva opened her eyes briefly, seeing enough to get a general idea as to what just happened. Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Mossad officers, her father, dead drug lords, all was good. She smiled contently, nestling comfortably into her father's arms

Gibbs slapped the back of his head, "Don't you _dare_ blame yourself for this."

Tony staggered a bit, not used to taking the full force of Gibbs' smacks. "Sorry. Its your rule though."

"It is not weakness," Director David told him, "consider it getting the last word in."

* * *

"_You've had a bullet in your shoulder for three days?!"_ a nurse asked him, nearly hysterical, "_How is it that you're still alive?"_

Tony smiled, offering his arm out so that she could put in an IV, "_I had a very good nurse."_

The woman rolled her eyes, "_They will remove the bullet once you are taken to Washington. Here, we do not have the resources."_ they'd been taken to a small clinic for emergency care, or in this case, lack thereof. It was a poor town, and the hospital wasn't equipped to deal with much more than the mundane.

"_And, when will that be?"_ he asked

"_Any time now,"_ she began the task of cleaning his wound, removing his old bandages, "_What on Earth?!" _she pulled a tampon out of his shoulder, and looked like she was about to faint

"_Heh, don't ask," _he laughed, suddenly wondering how Ziva was

"Hey, DiNozzo!" Gibbs walked in, carrying two cups of coffee, "Can he have this?" he asked the nurse who shrugged, "Eh, what can it hurt. Drink up." he handed Tony his coffee

"Ugh, boss, I think that one's yours," Tony felt the bitter liquid burn his throat all the way down before unsettling his stomach. Gibbs' coffee could peel the paint off of a car.

"Nope, that's what they've got," he handed Tony a fistful of powdered creamer and sweetener packets, "I have no idea what you put in yours. The only thing that _should_ go into coffee is coffee."

Tony added the lot to the cup, "Coulda, woulda, shoulda," he shrugged, "How's Ziva doing?"

Gibbs sighed, "Not too good. They said she's got a nasty concussion; I asked Ducky about it, and he says she'll be okay in a few days, as long as she takes care of herself."

Tony nodded, relieved to hear some encouraging news, "How is she emotionally? After all that, I mean..." he trailed off, nothing more needing to be said

"Oh, she's pretty pissed," Gibbs said with a suspicious grin, "First, they made her lay still for an hour so they could check her head. Then, they made her have an SAE."

"Oh man," Tony groaned. There was no way this could have ended well, "What did she do to them?"

"Well, she was asleep when they started, woke up in the middle," he explained, "the doctor now has a half dozen stitches, a broken wrist, and a concussion."

"She woke up during it?!" Tony bolted up, now even more determined to check up on her himself, "What were they thinking? They should have at least let her know what they were doing to her! Hasn't she dealt with enough of that?"

Gibbs caught up with him in the hallway, "She's fine, Tony. They did tell her they were gonna do a rape kit, but she's concussed, so she forgot. She doesn't even remember it happened now.The doctor's worse off than she is right now."

"You're kidding?" he peered in through Ziva's hospital room window incredulously. She looked completely docile and helpless; no wonder the hospital staff weren't prepared to deal with her. She was either asleep or unconscious, her bedside guarded by McGee. Tony snickered a bit at the idea of McGee, the watchdog. He played the part well though, jumping at every noise and loyally shepherding over her

"McGee, how's she doing?" Gibbs asked, quietly entering, Tony at his heels

"Okay, I guess," he looked her over, "just sleeping mostly. They're taking us all back to Washington in a few hours, so she needs to rest up. She said to wake her up though if you came," he told Tony

"No, just let her rest," Tony sat down on the edge of the bed, content to just watch over her, "She deserves a little down time."

"Abby's going nuts back home," McGee told them, checking his phone as the dozenth missed call from her went to voicemail, "I promised her I'd let her know once we knew more, but she knows what we know." Abby had been ecstatic when she'd found out that Tony and Ziva were found alive. McGee chose to leave out the part where Tony had been forced to hurt her, knowing it would only upset Abby, "Well, almost everything."

"McGee, the kit's going to our crime lab," Gibb sighed, "She's gonna find out one way or another."

"I know," McGee didn't really know what he was thinking. He couldn't protect her from everything, and she wouldn't want him to

"Protect who from what?" Ziva murmured, looking around, "Where are we?"

Tony smiled warmly, "Morning sleeping beauty. Guys, you mind giving us a minute?"


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Thanks for all the feedback guys!

* * *

Tony sat down on the edge of Ziva's bed once the others left, giving them a moment alone to talk. "Ziva, I-" he'd barely opened his mouth to talk when the door swung open behind them

"_Ziva? Here,"_ her father handed her a bag, filled with warm fast food, "_You do of course realise that your grandfather is turning in his grave?"_

She shrugged, digging out a burger greedily, "_If this is the only problem he would have had with me, I'm okay with that."_

"_Just eat up for now,"_ he smiled, "_I think that right now, it is best that you get some calories in you. Even if that happens to be that garbage."_ he left, leaving the two alone again

"What was that about?" Tony asked, understanding maybe two words out of that exchange

"Oh, he says that my grandfather is turning in his grave because of this," she noticed Tony wince a bit, "No, not because of that!" she handed Tony one of her burgers, "You still owe me a cheeseburger; this does not count."

"Okay...what?" he asked, perplexed

"My grandfather was an orthodox rabbi for nearly sixty years," she explained between mouthfuls, "If he knew that I was sitting here in the hospital, eating a bacon cheeseburger, he would probably have had a heart attack."

Tony forced a smile, "You've never seemed the orthodox type to me in regards to anything!"

"No, and I like it that way," she reclined comfortably in bed, the nagging stomachache she'd nearly forgotten about slowly fading. Going a few days without food was easy; after a while you don't feel hunger anymore. Its when you eat only little bits that you truly suffer, feeling your stomach growl and ache

"You doing okay though? Physically? Mentally?" he asked, trying to gently pry information out of her

"Better now that I have eaten," she sighed, "I had almost forgotten what meat tasted like."

Tony nodded, understanding the situation. He grazed on the burger Ziva'd given him, not sure if he deserved it. After all he'd put her through, she shared her meal with him. Ziva lifted his chin, forcing him to look up at her, "I am sure that your burger is very fascinating, but you have been staring at it for a few minutes now. What is wrong?"

"This. All of this," he sighed, "Do you even know what I did to you?"

"Yes," she answered simply, "What of it?"

"What do you mean, 'what of it'?" his jaw dropped, "I did something to you that no one should ever have to go through. And even after all of that, you share your food with me and act like it never even happened?" he stared at her in disbelief, "How can you just...forget it?"

"Because," she scooted closer to him, "For one, I know that it was not your fault. You had no control over a very volatile situation. You did only what you had to in order for us both to survive. Two, I am fine. A little sore and tired, but fine!" she insisted, "In spite of the circumstances, you were a...snowman? That is not right..."

"'Gentleman'?" he suggested, a term he wasn't used to hearing used to describe him

"Yes." she nodded, "I do not remember much, but I do remember you staying with me. When we were locked away down there, you could have easily taken everything we were given for yourself. For all you knew, I would not survive, and caring for me would have only lessened your chances." Tony cursed her analytical mind, wishing she could see how wrong that was; he could never have abandoned her for his own gain, "I remember the drugs. You did not want them to give them to me, because you were not sure of their intentions. Once they made their motives clear, you delayed it as long as possible, and did what you had to do to keep us alive."

"How can you just...sum it up like that?"

"How can you not?" she shrugged, "Is there anything that I have said so far that is wrong?"

"You forgot the part where I let the beat the hell out of you," he touched the bandages on her forehead lightly

"My own carelessness," she insisted, "Tony, how can I make this any better? What do you want me to say or do?"

"I don't know," he told her honestly, "Tell me that I was stupid and careless. Tell me that all of this could have been prevented. Tell me that you won't ever forgive me for what I did to you." he needed someone to blame for all of this, even if that person was himself. The drug lords had already paid in blood for their sins, but at least they were no longer a problem of this mortal realm. Whereas his guilt would follow him to the grave

Ziva looked him straight in the eye, "You were neither stupid nor careless, none of this could have been prevented, and you are already forgiven."

* * *

Tony walked down the halls, pushing his IV stand along. He got a few whistles from some of the nurses who got an eyeful when his gown parted a bit in the back. Blushing slightly, a rare occurrence for him, he covered himself up for modesty's sake, "Sorry ladies, show's over!"

He sat back down on his bed, waiting for the much anticipated trip back to Washington. While on the one hand he was more than ready to be back home, he wasn't looking forward to another plane trip. On his nightstand, he found a note. He didn't recognize the writing, but he had a pretty good idea as to whom it was from even before he picked it up

_Mister DiNozzo,_

_I understand that the past week or so has been to say the least difficult for you. I also understand that due to circumstances beyond your control you were forced to do something that ordinarily, you would have never imagined. Ziva told me about your discussion this afternoon, and I must admit, you are a man of strong morals; such a rare thing in this world we live in. _

_Though she claims to be 'fine' (a man of your age should know by now that when a woman says that, she is rarely 'fine'), I want you to look after her for me. Make sure that she knows that people care for her; she forgets this all too often. _

_Ah, and my apologies for our little 'encounter'. An animal, you are not. So long as you do not harm my daughter, I will not be forced to train my gun on you again._

_Sincerely, _

_Benjamin David_

Tony sighed heavily, tucking the note in with his belongings. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he muttered to himself

* * *

"Hey, Probie!" Tony greeted lazily, "What's goin' on? What are we all doin'? How are ya?"

Gibbs walked up behind McGee, who was trying to come up with a verbal response, "He's on painkillers, McGee." he explained, "Soon as we land, he's having surgery on that shoulder, so they've doped him up to get him through the flight."

"Oh," McGee nodded, "That would explain a lot. Well, actually...he's almost this bad when he's not drugged."

"You ready, DiNozzo?" Gibbs threw an extra blanket over Tony, making sure that the flight home would be comfortable. "Flight's about six hours, but we've gotta stop in Austin halfway. That way, they can get you and Ziva checked over, make sure you're good to go for the rest of the trip."

"Speaking of our whom, where is our little ninja girl?" Tony sat up from his bed, looking around, "Oh. How long's she been there?" he smiled, noticing Ziva's sleeping form beside him. The hospital had helped them prepare a couple of cots in the back. Tony's bed rested just a few feet away from Ziva's

"She's been there over an hour, Tony," McGee informed him, "Since take off anyway. She's pretty out of it too though; for some reason, flying makes her kinda anxious."

Gibbs smiled, "You get some rest too," he flicked out the lights and made his way back to his seat


	15. Chapter 15

AN: A bit of a filler chapter; sorry

I don't know how much longer we'll have internet, so the next few days I'm going to try to update ASAP, but don't be surprised if they stop for a while after

* * *

Tony rolled off of his sore shoulder, finding it very hard to relax and sleep with it the way it was. At least when he was exhausted, wounded, and in agony, he had no trouble sleeping through the nights. Now that it was just a mild nagging pain, it was almost worse.

He gave up, deciding that sleep would wait. There wasn't much to keep his busy mind preoccupied; McGee had left him with some stupid Japanese number puzzles, but they only served to frustrate him. He turned his attention to the one interesting thing in the small craft.

Ziva sat staring out the little window, watching the landscape pass by below. Tony nervously moved to sit beside her cot, watching her watch the world beneath them, "Where do you think we are?" he asked casually

She shrugged, "I would guess Mexico City," she pointed off to the south, "I do not think there is a larger city anywhere else around here."

Tony leaned over to see. The colossal city, bathed in the light of the full moon below; a city refusing to sleep. "Wow, that's huge!"

"I prefer smaller towns," Ziva told him, "One the one hand, there is anonymity in such a large place, but I like having something that's a bit more...controlled?"

He nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I know what you mean. What was it like where you grew up?"

"You mean, apart from suicide bombings and hate crimes?" she asked sadly

"Um, yeah?" he was already regretting asking her

"Not bad," she thought about it for a second, "Not good, but not bad. I suppose I do miss it at times. Though we always tend to remember the worst, it was a nice place to live." she fondly remembered spending summers on the coast with her grandparents, and the school year with her siblings and her parents in Tel Aviv. "It did get better over time. Though I doubt I will live to see peace in my homeland." Though Israel would always be her home, her family was here.

"Hm, at least Israel's a dry heat right?" he smiled, trying to lighten the somber mood. He was sick of the tropical heat, and would kill for the full 3 months of Washington's snowy winters

"Yes..." she flopped her head against the window, trying to keep herself awake.

Tony noticed her failing attempt at keeping herself sentient. He sat up behind her on the cot, putting his good arm around her tentatively, "You know, we've still got a little ways to go before we get to Austin. You should try to rest a bit."

"So should you," she reminded him, lifting her head from the window, placing it on Tony's uninjured shoulder instead, "You are still waiting to have surgery, yes?"

"Yeah, once we get back," he subconsciously rubbed his sore shoulder, picking at his bandages, "It'll be okay."

"Hey!" Gibbs called, pretending not to notice having seen them practically spooning, "You hungry?"

Ziva immediately moved from Tony's arms, "Starving," it wasn't far from the truth

Tony rubbed his hands together eagerly, "What are we having?"

Gibbs sadly shook his head, "You're not, DiNozzo," he handed Ziva a plate of whatever in-flight food they had to offer, "You're having surgery in a couple hours, so you can't have solid food."

"Then...can I have unsolid food? Is unsolid a word?" he asked pleadingly, his lunch with Ziva seeming like it happened ages ago

"'Liquid'?" Ziva offered, "And you say that my English is bad!"

Gibbs handed Tony a bottle of water, "You can have water for another hour, but after that, nothing in your gut. No water, no nothing."

"Gotcha, boss."

* * *

"Tony?" McGee walked toward Tony's cot, "We're about to land. You and Ziva are going to need to take a seat and get buckled in." he looked around curiously, "Speaking of whom...where is she?"

Tony shrugged, "She went off somewhere to eat. Said it was mean to eat in front of me, so she's hiding, probably sulking somewhere." while he was glad that he didn't have to sit and watch her eat, it wasn't really necessary. She needed it more than he did anyway. He didn't even ask her, she simply disappeared along with her meal

"So...you have no clue as to where she went?" McGee sighed tiredly

"Only thing I can tell you is, she's got gonna want to be found."

"Ziva?" McGee poked around their cargo, "We're gonna land soon, so you probably want to find a seat!"

He found her sitting on the sink in the lavatories, plate in hand, "That's really not very sanitary, Ziva." he looked away, trying not to make himself sick, "How can you eat in the bathroom?"

"It is not the worst conditions I have endured, you simply have a weak stomach, McGee," she hopped down, rinsing her plate in the little sink. "If you are going to chuck-up, the bathroom is open, provided you can fit in here. I do not know why they cannot make these lavatories a little bigger."

"I thing you mean up-chuck, and no, I'm not going to. I just don't handle flying well," McGee squeezed himself in, leaning over the toilet just to be safe, "You need to go sit down and buckle up."

Ziva rubbed his back lightly as the wave of nausea subsided, "I will not tell Tony," she promised, "but try to work on this?"

* * *

Tony sighed with relief, seeing Ziva take a seat across the aisle from himself and Gibbs, "Starting to get worried, Zee-vah! What took you so long?"

"I was in the bathroom," she shrugged

"Why did you take that lo-" Gibbs began, but experience told him that when it came to women and private matters like bathroom habits, it was best not to ask. He was asking for way too much information.

The pilot's voice came over the intercom, repeating in both Spanish and English, _"Good evening, passengers. We will be arriving in Austin in roughly five minutes. Make sure that your seat belts are fastened and that all overhead cargo is properly secured..."_

Tony groaned, "I hate flying..."

"Aw, why?" Ziva smiled, "Do you not love the feeling of being miles above the world, with nothing holding you up?" she was thoroughly enjoying watching Tony cringe at every other word

"Ziva, that's mean," McGee chastised, "You of all people-"

"Have a right to bother him about it!" she interrupted, "If no one else, we can harass each other about this. It is all in good humor, McGee."

"Lighten up, McSnob, she'll get hers," Tony promised, "I just have to wait until she's least expecting it..." he held his fingertips together evilly with an malicious grin plastered across his face

"I guess," McGee grabbed a paper sack, just in case

"Still sick, yes?" she smirked, with a bit of pity, "We will be on the ground soon."

"Yeah, and then onto another plane," he sighed, breathing deeply into the sack, "Another turbulent, long flight."

"We could just leave you in Texas?" Gibbs offered, only half-joking

"Nah, I'm good."

* * *

As they left the tarmac, Tony caught up to Ziva, "Hey, how are you holding up? I mean, really. None of this, 'I'm fine' crap, just the truth."

"You want to know?" she asked. He nodded curtly, "My head is throbbing so badly I can hardly walk straight, I am tired, sore, and worried that I will lose you. There, are you happy?!" she blurted out on one breath.

"Worried?" he shook his head in disbelief, "What are you worried about me for?"

Ziva pulled back the bandages on his shoulder, revealing his swollen, oozing wound, "This! Tony, it has been four days. It is badly infected. We still have a few hours before we reach Bethesda, and even then it will take them a little while to get you in and-"

Tony held a finger to her lips, silencing her, "I'm not going to die, Ziva. I didn't come all this way, go through all that, just to die." he put his good arm around her, leading her over to the medics, waiting to check them over before transferring flights, "I've got a ton of antibiotics and stuff in me, so its getting better."

She nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed from her outburst. "I see. I am sorry, I should not have overreacted."

"Hey, in spite of the way we pick on you, you're human, Ziva," he lifted her fallen chin, "And don't you forget it."


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Sorry updates have been few and far between, blame my teachers! Stupid flawed educational system...anyway, here you go!

Oh, in case you can't tell, this is sort of morphing into a Tivaish fic. Didn't mean for it to, it just kinda happened...

* * *

Tony sat up on the medic's table, ice cold in spite of the dry heat. Ziva took a seat beside him, while the medics slipped on gloves, "Let's see, you two have had quite an ordeal these past few days!" one of them chuckled.

"Yeah, real funny," Tony muttered, "I wanna go back again some time, how about you, Ziva?"

"Do not joke about that," she cautioned dangerously.

"Okay," the other medic took a flashlight to Ziva's eyes, "Follow the light usin' only your eyes...good, good. You've got a nasty concussion, but give it a few days and that'll get better. For now, just take it easy, 'right? They'll probably admit you for observation once you get back home, but I doubt it'd be for more than a day or so." he turned to Tony, "Watch her for anything that seems amiss. Head injuries are tricky, and while the first twenty-four hours are critical, in some cases, memory lapses and confusion can occur days later."

"I'll watch her," Tony vowed, wincing as the tape being removed from his bandaged shoulder ripped out his chest hairs, "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Do not be a chimp," Ziva scoffed

"'Wimp', Ziva," Tony sighed, "The term is wimp. And no, I'm not." he reached over and plucked a few hairs from her forearm, "See? Hurts huh?"

She smacked away his fingers, reaching to pull more hair, "Enough!" she turned to the medics, "When can we leave?"

"Well, I'm afraid Mister DiNozzo here isn't," the woman examining Tony's shoulder cringed, pulling away the last of the gauze, revealing a swollen, infected wound, oozing something foul, "With an infection like this, we need to get him to a hospital and into surgery."

"What?!" Tony and Ziva both gaped at the same time

"I'm afraid so," her partner sighed, cleaning the would as best as he could, "I know you two are eager to get home, but if that doesn't get taken care of soon, you might loose use of that arm, or the arm itself!"

Tony sighed, "Okay, where to?"

"Sacred Heart is closest," he told them, "Ambulance is just outside, we'll get you there as quick as we can."

Gibbs poked his head into the tent, "Hey, you two done yet?" he noticed the medics, still working on Tony's shoulder, "Sorry, didn't know you were still working on 'em. When can we head out? We've got a flight to catch in a half-hour."

"You do, he don't," the man reported, "His shoulder's gonna need surgery, and it can't wait another few hours 'till you get to DC. Hell, it'll probably already be a good couple of hours just waiting once he gets there! He can't fly for a few hours, then sit and wait another hour or two in the waiting room! By then, there might not be anything they can do."

"David, I'm guessing you're tagging along?" he turned to Ziva, sitting worriedly next to Tony

She nodded, "Yes. We started this together, we are finishing this together."

Tony smiled, moved by her dedication, "You know you don't have to. You're probably eager to get home, sleep in your own bed, go running at some insane hour of the morning..."

"Yes, but not yet," she promised, "Gibbs, are you coming?"

"Can't," he told them, "I've gotta get back to DC; Jen didn't want me going in the first place, now she's gonna need me to report in." he placed a hand on Ziva's shoulder, "Call me the moment he gets out of surgery?"

"Of course," she vowed

"Good," he pointed over at Tony, climbing into the back of the ambulance, "Watch his six for me!"

* * *

"That should do," Ducky gave a sigh of relief, "My, my, you fellows certainly had it coming didn't you?" he gazed across the room at his tables, every one full up. The bloodbath at the drug house in Columbia had left him with seven corpses requiring seven autopsies, all covered in multiple bullet wounds, "Mister Palmer, would you mind putting them away now? They're tired of talking."

"Yes doctor," Jimmy nodded, fatigue setting in on him as well

Ducky sat at his desk, taking a minute to sip a well deserved cup of tea.

"Doctor?" Ducky cringed a bit; in spite of all the years they'd worked together, Jimmy Palmer rarely called him "Ducky" as he preferred. "Doctor" just sounded to formal, especially between colleagues, "Where do you want him?" just as NCIS and Mossad arrived at the house, the unfortunate James Scott had shown up for a rendezvous with the drug lords.

"Ah," he approached the gurney where the man's body lay, "You've caused us quite a bit of trouble my dear fellow. If you'd followed simply the laws, we wouldn't have had to come after you, and our agents would be safe at home, and you wouldn't be on my table."

* * *

"Mister DiNozzo?" a nurse called, "We're ready for you."

Tony opened his eyes, half-asleep in the waiting room. The nurse's words eventually registered, and he grabbed the paperwork he'd spent a half-hour filling out. As he moved to stand, he felt himself being held back. He looked down to see Ziva, sleeping with her head in his lap, snoring softly. Smiling, he gently lifted her head so he could slip out, "Hey, I need to get up, sweetcheeks," he set her head back down on the arm of the chair, "I'll be back before you knew I was gone, okay?"

* * *

"Gibbs!" he was barely able to brace himself in time to prepare for one of Abby's bone crushing hugs. "You're back, and you're okay! How was it, did you kick some drug lord butt? Where are Tony and Ziva? Are they okay? Did you-"

"Abby!" he held a finger to her lips, "You're rambling again." he finally hugged her back, "Yes, I'm back and I'm fine. We survived, and no, I don't 'kick but'. Tony and Ziva are at a hospital in Texas. They should be okay in a bit."

"What? What happened?" she moved to her mop and broom versions of Tony and Ziva, "Oh, guys! Can't you ever just, you know, be careful? Well, you're careful. Most of the time," she spoke to the fake Ziva, "I bet it was Tony's fault." she turned back to Gibbs, "What happened to them?"

"Tony's got a hurt shoulder," he deliberately didn't mention the fact that he was shot, "And Ziva's got a concussion. They'll be fine, Abbs." he assured her.

Abby poked her head around the corner, hearing the dinging from the elevator. She marched up to McGee who had just exited. He frantically pressed the button, trying to escape Abby's wrath, but she caught him, "Timmy! Tell me what happened to Tony and Ziva!" she ordered, holding him by his necktie

"Well, um," he looked to Gibbs for support, receiving none, "Why don't you ask Gibbs?"

"I did. But I don't think he's telling me the whole story," she glared at Gibbs, standing by innocently, "I can't tell if Gibbs is lying, he's too good. You however, I can read like a book." she pulled his tie tighter, "Spill it!"

"Tony got shot, Ziva's got a concussion and-" off Gibbs' look, he cut himself off. They'd both agreed that it was best if Abby didn't find out that little detail of their ordeal.

"And what?" she prompted, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"And she's at the hospital with Tony, they're both getting checked out." he covered.

"Liar..." she hissed, turning to Gibbs, "Why didn't you tell me Tony got shot?! He's in a hospital right now, probably surgery, with none of us there for him-"

"Ziva's with him," Gibbs pointed out

"So? I'm not there for him! I'm failing them! And you guys are keeping secrets! Not nice Gibbs, not nice! Teams don't keep secrets Gibbs!" tears were now streaming down her face, leaving black lines on her cheeks, "Tell. Me. The. Truth."

"I was with them, Abby," he wiped away her tears, "They're okay. I promise. As soon as they fix up Tony, they'll get transferred to Bethesda, and you can go see them." he rocked her gently in his arms, "You could never fail them Abby. Failure is not an option."


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Sorry for one of the longest updates in FF history. This chapter is loosely based on the song by Evanescence, _Fields of Innocence_. I think it really fits Ziva. Look up the music video on YouTube, it's a beautiful song.

By the way, probably not medically accurate, but I'm taking a Human Bio class, so I'm hoping I'm getting better!

* * *

A light, way to bright for his liking shone into Tony's eyes, "Mister DiNozzo, glad to see you're awake." a nurse smiled

"I'm awake?" he mumbled, "Since when?" he shielded his eyes from the bright light, "My pupils feel fine. My shoulder's just sore."

"Well, we did manage to get the bullet out," she showed him a specimen jar, a small slug resting at the bottom, "You were very lucky. It was pretty badly infected, and could have cost you your arm."

Tony automatically checked his arm, assuring himself that it was still firmly attached to his torso, "Huh. Feels tingly."

"That's because of the antibiotics," she smiled, giving him another dose of medication, "We put you on pretty strong stuff to combat the infection."

"Hey, you seen a girl around here?" he asked, remembering that he wasn't alone in this hospital, "About 5' 4'', dark hair, big brown eyes, bad temper, messes up her English?" he tried to sit up, but the nurse easily shoved him back down.

"Yes, she's here. She asked if I knew 'off the top of my brain' if you were doing okay," the woman pulled back the curtains, revealing Ziva sleeping in a chair by his bedside, "She's got a concussion, but since she doesn't have a fever and when her mental state was evaluated, she seemed okay, they aren't going to admit her." she gently nudged Ziva, "Hey, your friend is awake!"

"Huh? Ziva looked around, remembering where she was, "Tony?"

"Right here, sweetcheeks," he smiled, "You been here waiting for me to wake up?"

"I had no choice," she shrugged, "I cannot stay in the hospital outside of visiting hours and I had no money for a hotel."

"So, where did you sleep?" he prompted

"Out on the bench in the lobby," off Tony's shocked look, she added, "Do not feel bad about it. Comparatively, I have had much worse," she cracked her neck, still sore from her undesirable sleeping conditions, "Once they started admitting visitors at 0900, I came in to see you."

"0900? How long have I been out?" he asked, looking around for a clock

"Almost 12 hours," the nurse told him, "We were starting to get worried. I'm going to send the doctor in to check on you, okay?" she left the two of them alone, sitting in comfortable silence

"So...you okay?" Tony finally asked

"Tired, my head hurts," she smiled bleakly. She assured him, "It is not too bad. I will live."

He shifted over, "Hey, come sit here," he invited, pulling back his blankets. As he did so, he noticed something closed in his hand, "Huh?" Ziva's necklace was interlaced between his fingers, "Ziva, you didn't have to do that."

"Abby sent it overnight express," she explained, slipping under the covers beside him, "I thought that it was of more use to you than to me. I gave up on faith long ago."

"Then why do you still wear it?"

"Hope, I suppose," she guessed, "I do not believe, but I remember when I did, and I suppose I still want to. Does that make sense?" she shifted closer to him, making him jump, "Sorry."

"No, you're just freezing," he'd never had enough physical contact to know how her flesh felt, but her hands were like ice compared to him in his warm bed. Feeling a bit guilty, with his good arm, he wrapped the blankets around them both, "I want you to call Gibbs. Has him wire you some money, or arrange for you to have a hotel to sleep in tonight. No more sleeping outside, or on a bench; you deserve better than that."

* * *

"McGee, Ducky!" Abby marched into autopsy, clearly pissed. She never came down here unless she absolutely had to, or was angry enough to overcome her fear of being autopsied alive. "You liars!"

"What? What did we lie about?" McGee knew that there were a few things that he'd lied to her about over the years, but nothing earth shaking.

"Yes, could you be less cryptic?" Ducky asked

"You didn't tell me about Ziva!" she threw a print out of the test results at them, "You told me to run a rape kit. That much, okay, I hate doing them, but I want to help,so I did it. You told me that it belonged to some Columbian woman the druggies were holding as a prisoner. Now, if that B.S. Was true, why would we be handling it? You said, don't worry about her DNA, or the guy's for that matter, because we already knew, we just needed to confirm that something actually happened? How stupid do you think I am?!" she was shaking, about to explode

"Abby, calm down," McGee stepped forward, his hands out in front of him defensively, "Gibbs said-"

"Don't you dare blame Gibbs!" she snapped, "You're all guilty by association!"

"Technically, if you are to blame everyone associated with Jethro, that's quite a long list." Ducky pointed out

"You didn't tell me," she whispered, tears running down her face, "I would have found out, why didn't you just tell me?"

"We didn't want you to freak out, Abby," McGee hugged her tightly, "We know how close you and Ziva have gotten."

"Oh, and this _isn't_ me freaking out?" she muttered sarcastically

"We're sorry dear, we shouldn't have tried to shield you." Ducky apologized, giving her a hug as well

"How were they?" she finally made herself ask, "I mean, they made Tony do that to her, they're both probably pretty upset." while she didn't want to think about them feeling bad about it, she wanted to be there for them as much as possible.

"Ziva's taking it okay, Tony's feeling kind guilty about it," McGee shrugged, "I think they just need time to heal, get over it, you know?"

"Ducky, get me the number for that hospital!" Abby ordered

* * *

"Okay, Tony, everything looks good," the doctor changed the bandages, pouring a burning antiseptic onto his incision, "You need anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine doc, thanks though," Tony reclined comfortably, tired and weary

"I mean, do you need me to bring you something for the pain?" the doctor spoke slowly and clearly, nodding her head in Ziva's direction. Since the hospital was short on rooms, and her condition wasn't considered too serious, she wasn't admitted or treated. But in spite of her tough facade, she was clearly in quite a bit of pain. She sat in the chair by his bed, her eyes closed, trying to block it out.

"Oh!" Tony's eyes lit up in understanding, "Yeah, I've got this kink in my neck, and I've got a bit of a headache, you know, the anesthesia can mess with ya? And my shoulder's acting up."

"Okay, I'll get you some pills to take," the doctor smiled, heading to the pharmacy

"Hey, Ziva?" Tony tried to get her attention, "Ziva!"

"What?" she responded, still keeping her eyes shut, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head

"You okay?" he asked worriedly, "you got that concussion four days ago. It's still hurting?"

"Not much," she lied

"Alright," the doctor handed Tony a paper cup of water and some pills. She turned to Ziva, "Make sure he takes it with all that water, it might make him sleepy, so you may want to cut your visit short and come back later when he's not tired, okay?"

After the doctor had left, Ziva turned to Tony, confused, "Why is she telling be about your medications? Is that not the hospital's job to worry about?"

"No, it's yours," Tony handed her the water and pills, "Did you call Gibbs?"

"Yes, he arranged a room in a hotel up the road a few blocks," she told him, still not getting it, "He rented it for a week, so we are in no hurry. Why?"

Tony sighed, rubbing his temple in frustration. They evaluated Ziva's mental condition, and they considered this normal? What was failing then? "Look, take the medicine and go to the hotel to get some sleep. Don't take it until you're there, so if it makes you woozy, you won't pass out on the street or something. Okay?"

"Oh, why do I need this?" she asked

"Because you wouldn't be acting like this if you weren't in a hell of a lot of pain. Go get some rest, Ziva. I'll be here when you get back."

* * *

AN: Next chapter: we get to see Abby's phone call to the hospital!


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have a computer virus known as "Windows Vista"!

* * *

"Mister DiNozzo?" a nurse called, poking her head in, "You've got a phone call."

Tony groaned, covering his face with his pillow to protect his eyes from the light. She handed him the receiver before leaving him alone to have some privacy. Curiously, Tony held the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"_TONY!_" Abby squealed, "_You're okay! Or at least you're alive, which is better than okay, I guess. Are you doing okay?_"

"I'm okay," Tony laughed. He could practically see Abby's grin, a thousand miles away, "Breathe, Abbs, breathe!"

"_Okay, I want you to take your pillow, and hug it. Just do it_," she ordered, completely serious, "_I can't hug you, 'cause you're halfway across the country, but that's like as close as I can get_." she tapped her foot impatiently, "_I'll know if you did it or not!" _

"I'm hugging it," Tony sighed, hugging his pillow awkwardly.

"_Oh my God!_" Abby whimpered, relieved, but a million questions were racing through her mind, "_What happened? McGee told me you got shot, and Ziva's got a bad concussion, and that you...well, I don't want to say it, but tell me it's not true!_" she pleaded, though she already knew the answer

"Abby," Tony sighed, "We're both okay. Yeah, that stuff did happen, and yeah, it sucks. But just remember it's over." he still couldn't shake the image of Ziva, tears running down her cheeks, from his mind. If he could take it all back, and make it so it never happened, he would give anything.

"_Where's Ziva? Is she okay?_" Abby's voice was still frantic and her words still came a mile a minute from a combination or stress and her caffeine high, but her tone softened.

"She's at a hotel, getting some sleep," he assured Abby, "Hey, the doc checked her out, and said that she didn't even need to be admitted."

"_Tony, the American health care system sucks._" Abby began her rant, nearly dropping the receiver as she waved her arms emphatically, "_Well, it's not the health care as much as it is the insurance that really sucks. They pretty much don't care unless you're dying, and only then because if you die, they don't get paid. See what happens when you combine humanity and bureaucracy? Just because they said she wasn't in that serious of condition doesn't mean she's okay!" _she took a breath, "_So Ziva's not there?"_

"No, but Gibbs can get you the number of the-" he sat confused, listening to a dial tone on the other end

* * *

Ziva threw her bag on the floor by the bed and flopped down lazily on the plush mattress. She'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be in a bed. As she relaxed, she began to realize how sore and tense her muscles were. Rubbing her shoulders, she took the bottle of pills from her bag. Though the bottle was labeled, and the doctor had told her what they were, she hesitated. She was a bit uneasy about taking the foreign drugs; they could be placebos or poison. The skeptical, cautious side of her advised her to endure the pain and play it safe, but the side of her that longed for relief won the internal battle.

Waiting for the drugs to take effect, either to kill or cure her, she checked out the mini-bar. Combining alcohol and medicine was probably not wise. There were however some luxuries that she had missed. Chocolate, soda and pepperoni sticks, kosher laws be damned. Since she wasn't paying for the room or its amenities, a little indulgence wouldn't hurt.

After her snack, her head began to spin, heavy on her shoulders, so she made her way back to the bed, not trusting her balance. She leaned back, expecting her head to throb with pain, but it didn't. Just as she closed her eyes to let sleep claim her, the telephone on her nightstand rang. Groaning, she answered, "Yes?"

"_ZIVA!" _Abby shrieked, "_You're alive!"_

"Yes, last I checked," she smiled, grateful to hear Abby's voice. There were times during their misadventure when she feared she would never hear that voice again, "How did you get this number?"

"_I got into the hotel registry, and found a room registered to 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith'. Definitely a Tony thing. Movie, spies, hot babes..." _another voice echoed in the background

"_Abby, she needs to get some rest,"_ McGee prompted, "_You can call her back tomorrow."_

"_Quiet Timmy!"_ Abby covered the mouthpiece of the receiver, "_you already saw them. You got to talk to them and make sure they were okay. So I'll talk to her as long as I want, or at least as long as I can before she falls asleep."_

"Abby, while I am happy to hear from you, I am very tired," she sighed.

"_Sorry. Tony told me some...stuff," _Abby muttered, the words unwilling to leave her lips, "_I just want you to know, if you need anything, call me."_

"I will, Abby," Ziva promised, "I will."

* * *

Tony sat up in bed, stretching tiredly. The pain and swelling in his shoulder were dissipating, and tonight he was to be released from the hospital.

One nagging thought in the back of his mind was Ziva. Was she okay? Was she coming? Had she already gone? He hadn't seen her since the doctor sent her off to the hotel with some medicine. Maybe she just needed some rest?

"Well, Tony," one of the nurses handed him a clipboard, "You seem to be doing really well considering the circumstances. Now just sign these, and you can go home."

"Actually, home is like a thousand miles away," Tony told her, knowing there was no way she could have known, "I'm staying...with a friend."

"Sounds nice," she smiled, handing him a paper sack, "Here are your medications. Information packets are in there, as well as a phone number in case you have questions, alright?"

"Thanks," Tony sighed, flopping down into the wheelchair, letting the nurse wheel him to the entrance to the hospital.

She handed him his bag of belongings, "Now if anything changes, call and let us know."

"Will do," Tony promised, already about halfway down the block.

* * *

He was beyond tired, but he kept going. Twilight fell over Houston, but the temperature was still in the eighties. He wandered into the hotel lobby, whistling appreciatively, "At least Jen has nice tastes!"

A bellhop walked up to him, "I'm sorry sir, but we're all full up."

"Oh, I already have a room...I think." Tony looked around, wondering how this place could possibly be full up. It was enormous, not to mention quite expensive.

"Name?" he asked, checking the computer

"DiNozzo, Anthony," he said, "My boss rented the room for us."

"Ah, found you!" he handed Tony a key, "Third floor, down the hall, then left, fourth door on the right."

Tony grabbed the pen on the desk and quickly scribbled the info down on the back of his hand, "Got it."

* * *

Tony repeatedly swiped his key card across the door panel. Each time, it would give a shrill beep, and before he could get the door open, the electronic locks would seal him out again. Getting frustrated, he slid his injured arm out of its sling, using one hand to open the door, the other to use the key card. This time the door opened, but he regretted using his arm, now aching from moving. "Ah..." he hissed, rubbing his sore shoulder, "That was dumb."

As he walked in, he looked around the spacious room. In the bedroom in the back, Ziva lay sleeping on top of the covers. He cursed himself for not thinking of asking her to open the door for him, "That was dumber!"

"What did you do?" Ziva muttered sleepily, not even bothering to open her eyes

"Oh," he sat on the bed beside her, "Used my bad arm to open the door."

"Yes, that would qualify as 'dumb'," she smiled

"Miss me?" he teased

"Like the plague," she drawled, forcing herself to sit up, "They let you go?" she looked him over, a bit worried

"I'm fine, Ziva," he rid himself of the sling and rolled his shoulders a bit to prove to her that he was healing, "See? Yesterday that would have killed me!"

She sighed, "That is...comforting...?"

Tony slid onto the bed beside her, kicking off his shoes, "Want me to go sleep on the couch, or is it okay if I stay in here?" he wanted to be a little cautious. He would definitely understand if she wasn't really comfortable with sharing a bed with him after everything that had happened.

"No, just," she slipped under the covers, drawing them back to let him come in to join her, "Stay with me?" a tinge of pink colored her cheeks as he came closer.

"Sure." once they got past the initial awkwardness of the moment, both relaxed a bit more. Tony turned the lights down, making himself comfortable. He turned to Ziva, already sound asleep. They kept their distance, each keeping to their own side of the bed. "Good night, Ziva."


	19. Chapter 19

Tony lay awake, unable to relax and fall asleep. He'd managed to doze off for an hour or so, but now he felt wide awake. He didn't get up out of bed or turn on the television, not wanting to wake Ziva. She lay across from him with her back to him. For once, she didn't snore or even move as she slept. Curious, Tony inched himself a bit closer. "Hey, Ziva? You awake?" he whispered.

"Unfortunately," she sighed, turning to face him. "I thought that the drugs would help me sleep, but all they did was knock me out."

"Yeah, same here," he informed her. "Wanna watch some TV?"

"What is on at two in in the morning on a Saturday?" she pointed out. "Unless you enjoy watching commercials?"

"Good point." he offered her a little more of the blankets. In his brief sleep, he'd pulled them off of her. "Here, maybe if you actually had some blankets, you could fall asleep?"

She smiled, "Tony, I have fallen asleep in worse situations than having no blankets."

"Yeah, I know," he got up to stretch, grabbing a bottle of water out of the mini-bar. "Need your pills?" he picked up the bottle on the nightstand, and noticed that it was still mostly full, "Ziva, have you been taking these at all?"

She nodded, "I took one dose."

He sighed, handing her two more pills, "You should be on your fourth. Ducky won't be very happy with you. Take those. It may only knock you out, but would you rather lay awake and sore for the next few hours?"

"I see your point, but reject your premise," she said, setting them on her night stand. "If I need them, they are right there."

"You're stubborn, you know that?"

"Yes, now go to sleep."

"Okay, I'll try."

Just as he laid back and began to make himself comfortable, someone knocked on their door, "Room service?"

* * *

"Jethro, what time are Tony and Ziva supposed to fly in?" Jen asked anxiously.

Gibbs checked his watch, "Around 2100 our time, why?"

"We need to make sure that they don't leave that hotel room," she ordered, handing him a file, "Apparently we didn't take out all of that drug ring, and someone knows right where to look. There's been a lot of chatter in Austin lately. Most of it within the past two days, all within fifty miles of their hotel."

"Do we ever get 'em all?" he pointed out pessimistically. "Do we have any proof?"

"McGee," Jen called, "Play this tape for us."

"Actually, it's not a tape. It's an Mp3 formated-" the young agent stopped mid-sentence, receiving twin glares from his superiors. "You don't care. Some other time? Okay, here it is..."

The tape began to play, in rushed Spanish, "_The damn Feds killed our supplier and all our other contacts. Our clients are gonna be pissed!" _one man said, anger clear in his voice.

"_Make them pay. Two Feds are staying at a hotel. Both just out of the hospital. Easy targets!"_ this speaker was calmer, more self-assured, and definitely more dangerous. _"Man and woman, we can have a little fun. Tie him up, make him hear her scream!"_

The file she'd given him contained dossiers on several criminals, all with mile long rap sheets, affiliated with the drug ring. They probably weren't too happy about the fact that most of their gang was now on Ducky's tables.

"We have extra security around the hotel, and the FBI is going to escort them from their room to their seats on the plane." she drummed her fingers on Gibbs' desk, a nervous habit of hers, "They're good agents, Jethro. Ordinarily, I wouldn't worry so much. Tony's recovering from surgery and Ziva's still pretty shaken up...I want them back home and safe."

"McGee!" Gibbs barked, handing him the folder, "I wanna know where each and every one of these guys are at this point in time. Don't give me any of that 'last known location' bullshit, I want to know where they are _now_."

McGee nodded, knowing better than to ask too many questions while Gibbs was on the warpath. "Let's see...all these guys are associated with this huge Venezuelan drug ring. All of them have priors; mostly possession, illegal use of a firearm, evading arr-"

"Don't care, McGee," Gibbs shrugged, "I just want to make sure that none of these guys are even on the same continent as Tony and Ziva."

He nodded, knowing he needed to get to the point, "Let's see...out of the six listed, three are in prison, one's dead, one is currently somewhere in England...got a voice match on this guy from the recording. Alberto Herrera, currently on house arrest for drug trafficking. He's the first voice. The other one is in..."

"Where, McGee?" Jen demanded.

"Last known location was in Austin, Texas. That was a month ago. He didn't check in with his parole officer last week."

* * *

Groaning, Tony forced himself up from the bed. Ziva had placed her fingertip to her nose first, so apparently he had to answer the door. He'd have to thank Abby later for teaching Ziva that. Why would room service show up at 0200 on a Saturday? He didn't remember ordering anything and Ziva had been out for the past few hours. He had good reason to be suspicious. "I think you've got the wrong room there, sir. We didn't order anything!" he looked through the peek-hole in the door, seeing the bellhop standing out in front of their door, shuffling his feet.

"Complements of the house," the accented voice told him from behind the door.

"At 2 in the morning?" his shields rose when he heard the man's voice. He knew that in this part of the country especially, it was pretty common for immigrants to work at places like these. But that thick Spanish accent combined with the strange circumstances made him a little cautious.

"Yes, will you open the door now?" the man asked impatiently.

Ziva got up, rolling her eyes, "What part of 'no' does he not understand?" she walked up to the door, "I am sorry sir, but you are kind of... _interrupting something_?" Tony stared at her in shock, "Come back in let's say...forty-five minutes?"

"_Ziva_?!" Tony hissed, "_What the _hell_ are you trying to do?"_

"We are in a hotel, yes? A very expensive one, and two people are sharing one bed. They probably expect it, Tony," she reasoned.

"Well, I'm afraid this cannot wait," the man said from the other side of the door, "I need you to open the door."

Ziva and Tony exchanged glances, and Ziva made a move for the dresser, where she knew Jen would always leave her weapons. During their time working side by side in Eastern Europe, they'd learned exactly how to predict each other's moves. Thankfully, her instincts were right, and a Glock was hidden in the back of the middle drawer, along with a generous supply of ammunition. She gestured for Tony to move back away from the door, "Okay, just a sec. I need pants!" Tony smiled, moving to give Ziva a clear shot before opening the door.

"NCIS, freeze!" Ziva aimed the gun right between the man's eyes. Dressed as a bellhop, the man held a semi-automatic weapon in his hands. Both took in each other's targets, neither backing down.

* * *

AN: Since I'm starting to wrap up several stories, I need new ideas! PM me with suggestions or include them in your reviews!


	20. Chapter 20

AN: SOOOO Sorry about the slow updates! We've had this huge snowstorm knocking out power and internet! We had snow and ice for like two weeks straight! This fic's almost done, another chapter or two to go. Thanks to all those who've reviewed so loyally over the past few months! If you have any ideas for new fics, PM me :)

* * *

Tony's breath hitched as he watched the armed culprit sink to his knees, gasping for breath. He quickly moved over, grabbing the gun from the man's hands, forcing it from his feeble grip. He slid the gun across the floor away from the culprit. "Wow..." he turned to Ziva. "That was close!"

"I, I did not shoot him, Tony." Ziva whispered, hiding her nervousness as she poked her head out into the hallway, gun still in hand. "Show yourself!" she hollered as another round of shots whizzed by.

"Hey, hold your fire! We're Federal Agents, we're the good guys!" Tony stepped out with his arms up, "No one's going to shoot anyone, right Officer David?" he received no answer, "Right? Officer David?" he looked back behind him, "Ziva?!"

He dropped to his knees beside Ziva, laying unconscious on the floor. He gently rolled her over, searching for a wound. The only sign of injury was a rivulet of blood trickling down her face.

"What's going on in here?" several men in dark clothing bearing several different acronyms, FCI, CIA, and of course NCIS walked in to assess the situation. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," Tony honestly said, patting her cheek, "Hey, wake up. Come on, don't do this to me again..." he whispered softly to her, helping her to come back around, "That's it, open your eyes." he smiled weakly, "You awake?"

"Hm?" Ziva looked around, a little dazed. "What happened?"

"You got grazed, sorry." one of the men, an NCIS agent, helped her up to her feet. "We didn't know specifically who our target, or targets were. Intel wasn't real great. When I saw you come out with a gun, barking orders, I assumed that you were one of them."

"You almost killed her. Another inch off, and she would have been dead." Tony glared at the man, "Long time no see, Stan."

"Sorry Tony," he shrugged, "Didn't mean to shoot your girl." he gently picked up Ziva, walking her over to the bed, feeling Tony's icy gaze from behind him.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ziva mumbled, pressing a washcloth against the side of her head. Thankfully one of the FBI agents had some first aid training. "Thank you."

"Stan Burley. Used to work for Gibbs." he extended his hand in greeting, but she didn't take it. "I see...not real friendly right now, huh? Can't say that I blame you."

"Stan worked for Gibbs for five years." Tony explained. "No wonder the guy's not quite right in the head!"

"You have worked for him for six years now, yes? That would explain a lot." Ziva smiled.

"Are you okay? You want me to call an ambulance?" Stan offered.

"No, I am fine." she sighed. "That wasn't exactly what my head needed though."

He went into the bathroom and grabbed her another washcloth, "Here, head wounds tend to bleed pretty heavy. You'll need to keep pressure on it."

Tony took the rag from Stan's hand and held it against Ziva's temple, "Yeah, it doesn't look too bad. Might need stitches though..."

"There are some medics out front," one of the CIA agents informed them. "Figured better safe than sorry. I'll have one of them come up, stitch up that for ya."

"Both of you work for Gibbs then?" Stan asked Tony and Ziva.

"Yeah...what of it?" Tony asked defensively.

"Well, what about rule twelve? How'd you two manage to sidestep the almighty rules?"

"Is that the one about knives, or the one about Marines and their coffee?" Ziva asked, trying to remember the correct sequence of rules. "No, it's the one about screwing your partner, yes?"

"Well, kind of. Rule one is actually 'never screw _over _your partner. Rule twelve is 'never date a co-worker' so it's kind of like don't screw your partner." Stan smiled, "There's no way he doesn't know, he's Gibbs!"

"Actually, we're not together." Tony told him.

"Huh. Could have fooled me!"

* * *

Making themselves comfortable in their new room, Tony sat with Ziva on the bed while the medics checked her over. It wasn't as lavish as their previous room, but since that was now a crime scene, they weren't allowed in even if they were Feds.

"This is nothing." one of the medics confirmed, finishing up the last few stitches. "That'll do. Anything else? We're kind of busy tonight?"

"Yeah, go on ahead," Tony said, wincing every time he saw the needle slip under Ziva's skin. However Ziva didn't so much as squirm.

"Alright." they packed up their supplies, helping Ziva sit back up. "If anything changes, or the wound feels itchy or sore, or if you develop a fever go see your doctor. It should be fine, but just keep it clean and covered to be safe."

"Thank you," Ziva muttered. Her response was more automatic than sincere. "Tony, I think I will take that medicine now."

Tony smiled, taking her pills from the nightstand and placing them in her hand, "There. You sure you're okay?" after she swallowed, he helped her lay back down, resting her head in his lap.

"I will be now that no one is trying to kill us," she shrugged, "I want to go home."

"Me too." he took out his cell and decided to give Gibbs a call, "Hey boss?"

"_DiNozzo? You okay?"_ Gibbs sounded concerned, but relieved.

"Yeah, got into a little friendly fire, but no real damage." he gently brushed Ziva's hair away from her cut, noting that she was nearly asleep again.

"'_Friendly fire'? What the hell happened?"_ Tony could practically see Gibbs' face turning red, making his steely blue gaze seem all the more terrifying. "_Who shot who?"_

"I believe the grammatically correct phrase would be 'who shot _whom'_ but-"

"_Put Ziva on!"_ Gibbs ordered.

Tony held the phone away from himself, Gibbs' booming voice almost deafening him. He passed the phone over to Ziva, "It's Gibbs." he poked her a little, coaxing her awake.

"Hello?" she muttered, "Gibbs?"

"_David. Slap DiNozzo." _Gibbs commanded, his voice a little softer with her than it had been with Tony.

"With pleasure," she wiggled her forefinger, beaconing him closer, knowing that he would obey. When she had a good shot, she slapped him. Thankfully in her weakened state she couldn't slap him hard enough to do any serious damage.

Hearing the slap from the other side of the conversation, Gibbs grinned, "_Good girl. Now what happened?"_ he asked, his tone shifting to a more serious, concerned voice.

"After they shot the man...I do not know his name, but I suppose that is not important...I looked out into the hallway to see if it was clear. When they saw me looking around with a gun, they assumed that I was one of the attackers." she explained calmly. "It was just a graze. I am fine Gibbs."

"_Who?" _another voice came on the line, a very frantic and frazzled Abby, "_Who shot you Ziva? I mean, there are only so many times you can almost get killed before you run out of almosts!"_

"Stan Burley. Apparently he used to be on Gibbs' team."

"_Burley?!_" Gibbs took the phone back, "_His ass is mine. Give the phone back to Tony."_

"He wants to talk to you." Ziva told Tony.

"_Tell Tony I said 'hi'!" _Abby interjected, shouting into the receiver that Gibbs had taken from her.

"Abby says 'hi'." she smiled, handing him back the phone.

"_Tony, you two should be getting a couple of plane tickets in a couple hours. You're flying back to D.C. Tonight. Until then, you two stay put! I'm coming to pick you two up myself."_

"Gotcha boss." Tony nodded, hanging up. He gently moved Ziva off of his lap. She looked so comfortable and peaceful in her sleep, even with the stitches. "We're going home, Ziva."


	21. Chapter 21

AN: I know it's been forever, but thankfully I finished my French final an hour early, and since they wouldn't let us leave early, I wrote this up.

* * *

Tony woke up without feeling Ziva in his arms, and realized just how empty it felt. He checked the rest of their suite, and couldn't find her. He wasn't too worried. Ziva could hold her own, and she was getting stronger every day. He still was a bit concerned that she'd left so abruptly and without leaving so much as a note.

He heard a familiar beeping sound followed by some cursing in a language he didn't understand, and he smiled. "Coming." he opened the door and let Ziva in, "Key cards kind of suck, huh? Where did you go?"

She shrugged, setting a couple of bags down, "I needed something to eat besides mini-bar snacks." she tossed him a bag of Oreos, which she knew he loved, "You are a grown man, Tony. They had these in the section for 'school lunch ideas'."

"Hey, you're never done learning!" he defended, "What all did you get?"

"Just necessities," she emptied the bag out onto the counter. A can of shaving cream and some disposable razors, a couple of rented movies, and a carton of "Phish Phood" ice cream. She handed Tony the razors and shaving cream, "That is for you."

"Look who's talking jungle woman!" he instantly wished he could have taken that back as she starred daggers at him.

"I can kill you 18 ways with a paper clip," she hissed dangerously, "Just _imagine _what I can do to you with razor blades?"

He gulped, "Okay...crazy chick." he picked up the ice cream, "Huh, 'just necessities'?"

"Yes." she continued to unpack things, and Tony was beginning to see a theme. Ice cream and movies, now chocolate, a hot water bottle, and a box of tampons. "Huh..." he thought carefully about what to say next, "I guess I kind of owe you, don't I?" he grabbed his backpack from under the bed and found his wallet among the things NCIS had sent to them. He pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to her, "Here."

She didn't take the money, or even reach for it, "What is this for?"

He folded it up and stuck it in her pocket, "I used yours, remember?" he indicated his shoulder, "I know I owe you a lot more than a new box of...those things, but it's the least I can do." he grabbed the movies she'd rented from the kiosk in front of the hotel, "_Four Rooms, Sound of Music, DaVinci Code, _and _Monty Python's Life of Brian._ Weird combination, but okay."

"I figure we have time to die." she explained, "We could spend a little time relaxing."

"'Kill', Ziva. The phrase is time to 'kill'." Tony sighed. "I guess we technically have time to die too, but that's not the point." In a way, it was annoying that she still made little mistakes like that, but if she ever stopped, he'd miss them. It was part of what made Ziva, Ziva.

She shrugged, "What difference does it make? Dead is dead!" she let him set up the movie in the living room space while she got ready. Comfortable pajamas, a hot water bottle for her aching back, and a container of ice cream in hand. "What do you want to watch first?"

"Well, you're Jewish, so I think that you'll have a certain appreciation for _Life of Brian_." he grinned.

* * *

"How can you possibly 'look on the bright side of life' if you are being crucified? It makes no sense!" Ziva complained, half-asleep on Tony's chest.

"I think that's the joke, Ziva," Tony sighed. "Oh well, what now?"

Ziva sat up and stretched a bit, checking the clock. "Gibbs is going to be here in an hour, so we cannot finish any of the other movies. We could start one?"

"Nah." Tony resisted the urge to call her a blasphemer. You _always_ finish a movie, no matter how badly you want it to stop. It's a crime to not see it through, and an insult to the people who made the film.

"We could watch TV?"

"Nah."

Convinced that Tony wasn't listening to a word she was saying, she made another suggestion, "We could fill the bathtub with chocolate pudding and wrestle naked until we both collapse?"

"Nah."

"You are not listening to a thing I am saying, are you?" she accused, "That is typical. You do not care. You ignore me, just like you do any woman who is not half-naked and throwing herself at you! Do I expect too much? Is a little respect too much to ask for? You have had your fun, and now you are through with me, yes?" she finally stopped her rant long enough to take a breath, "You do not understand anything."

Tony stood up. While he was offended by her words, and angry with her, he knew that lashing out at her would only cause more collateral, and neither of them needed that. "Look. I've made my share of mistakes. And yeah, I'm not listening very carefully because in case you haven't noticed, I'm hurt too, Ziva. My shoulder's sore, and I'm doped up on pain meds, so no, I'm not exactly focused right now. And 'fun'? You think that was 'fun'?! Those bastards forced me to do it, you know that! You think that I wanted to hurt you?! You know what, maybe I don't understand. But maybe I don't want to."

Ziva looked at him, shocked and dismayed. In spite of the tears forming in her eyes, she held her head high and stared him down defiantly, "I see. At least now I know." suddenly they weren't shouting anymore, just silently hurting.

Regretting his harsh words, he gently pushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen across her face, "What happened to us? We used to get along...kinda...sort of...usually...sometimes. But we're at each other's throats over stuff we have no control over. I shouldn't be mad at you, you shouldn't be mad at me." he led her back over to the couch, knowing that reasoning with a stressed, hormonal assassin wasn't liable to work, but it was worth a try. "I do try to listen. I know that you...you had a sister named Tali, who died when she was sixteen, your uncle bred Arabians and you liked to ride them when you were a little girl, you love to dance but never let anyone see you, your favorite color is blue-dark blue, not girly-blue, you hate the Fourth of July because the fireworks freak you out even though you don't tell anyone but Abby and she's a blabbermouth, and you like white chocolate even though you know that it's not technically chocolate." he smiled, rather proud of himself.

"I'm impressed." she admitted, smiling for the first time since they'd begun this argument.

"Yeah, so am I," he grinned, "You used a contraction!" he opened his arms and let her come to him. She gripped him tightly and turned her head away so that he wouldn't see the tears that threatened to flow. He knew that she was crying, but she would never admit it of course. "We've still got about forty-five minutes; wanna just veg out?"

"'Veg out'? What does that mean?" she looked up at him, puzzled. She'd forgotten that she was trying to hide her tears, and she turned red as Tony wiped them away.

"It's an English idiom meaning to act like a vegetable," he explained, "No, idioms don't make sense in any language. How come you haven't figured that out yet?" he lay back on the couch, wrapping the throw from the back of the couch across her lap.

"_There are a lot of things that I haven't figured out yet."_ Ziva quietly thought to herself.

* * *

Tony jumped a little, the sound of pounding on the door startling him. He winced, "Gibbs?"

"No, the Easter Bunny!" Gibbs growled, "Open the door!"

He tried to slip out from under Ziva, who had just fallen asleep, but she shifted back on top of him and made herself more comfortable. Silently cursing, he dug through his pockets, finding his key card. Closing his eyes and wishing for luck, he skimmed the card across the floor, only to have it come to a stop inches from the door. "Of course..." he carefully reached into Ziva's pocket, not daring to think about what might happen if she were to wake up and find his hands in her back pocket. He found Ziva's key card, and tried again. This time the card slid smoothly under the door. "Booyah!" he yelled in victory.

"Huh?" Ziva jumped, startled by the commotion, "What is going on?"

"Sorry Ziva," Tony sat up, now that he didn't have to worry about waking her anymore. "Gibbs is here."

"Oh, there'd better be a good reason for this," Gibbs sighed, seeing his two agents laying in a tangled heap of limbs and blankets on the couch.

"We fell asleep watching a movie," Ziva told him, "Nothing more."

"Oh?" Gibbs pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket that he'd left there from a previous crime scene and picked up a used condom from under the end table.

Tony and Ziva exchanged awkward glances. "Um, that's not ours. We had to switch rooms in a hurry, I guess they didn't have time to clean up first." Tony sighed, knowing they hadn't heard the last of this.

"I agree," Ziva nodded, examining the prophylactic in Gibbs' gloved grip, "Tony is smaller than that."

"Ziva?!" Tony hissed angrily.

"Too much information." Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Pack your trash, let's get out of this cesspool!"

* * *

AN: 1 chapter to go. Will update sooner if I get more reviews? Got over 200! Whoohoo! Congrats to SpoOkYAgfaN, #200! You get...sorry, don't have anything for you but thanks!


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Yes, I realize that it has been over a year since I've updated this. Between life, school etc. It's been hard to find time to update but since I have a new laptop for college I should be able to update more frequently. Just be patient with me and I'll try to get other fics updated too.

* * *

Tony settled into his seat between Ziva and Gibbs. Most of their flight had been spent in total silence. Ziva looked at him worriedly, "You have gotten up to use the restroom five times since we have been in the air, Tony. Are you sure that everything is alright?"

"Why are you keeping track, Zee-Vah?" he muttered trying not to wake Gibbs, who had dozed off somewhere over Texas.

"I am just concerned is all." she shrugged, "When was the last time you had your prostate checked?"

"Feels like I'm getting a prostate exam right now." he grumbled, suddenly feeling a bit defensive. He mentally scolded himself. He knew that Ziva was only looking out for him in the same way he would for her if the roles were reversed. Truthfully he had been watching her more closely than normal lately. Partly because he felt responsible for what had happened to her, and part of it was something he couldn't quite describe.

Ziva sighed, "Fine. I will leave you alone." She turned away from him and made herself comfortable with the pillow the flight attendant had brought her earlier.

"Hey," he placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "I know you're just looking out for me. All they had to eat at the airport was a roach wagon out front and I didn't want to pay for crappy airline food, so I got a taco that didn't agree with me, if you must know."

"What is a 'roach wagon' and why would you want to eat at one?" she asked, still not meeting his gaze.

"It's one of those little food carts that look sort of like an aluminum motor home that sells Mexican food that gives you diarrhea." he explained, "They're not known for being sanitary so they get cockroaches."

"I have some of your little cookies in my bag."

"Ugh, no thanks. I don't think I'll eat again for a month."

* * *

"Okay, let's run down the checklist one last time." Abby was frantically pacing the airport corridor and periodically glancing over to the terminals.

McGee placed a hand on her shoulder, "Abbs, we've run down the list five times and they're not expected to land for another two hours. You can relax a little. I know, look who I'm talking to."

"Just one more, please?" she pleaded. "Banner?"

Holding up Abby's home-made banner reading the words _Welcome back Tony, Ziva and Bossman_ "Yep."

Abby rolled her eyes, "It's a checklist, McGee. If you have it you say check, not 'yep.' Then they would call it a 'yep-list' which is funner to say, but it's still a checklist."

Ducky chuckled, "No sense arguing my boy, she's stressed, sleep deprived and on enough caffeine that I believe I can see veins throbbing on her temple."

She reached up to feel her head and furrowed her brow, "I don't feel anything so I'm still good."

"Abby, they're going to be happy to see us regardless of whether or not you've met the expectations you've set for yourself." McGee assured her, "They're just going to be glad to be back on home soil. Does it really matter if you brought welcome back cards and cookies?"

"It matters to me!" she pouted.

Tony sat awake while Ziva and Gibbs dozed. They would be landing soon so it was fruitless to try to sleep. Even if he could relax enough to fall asleep he would be woken again by a reminder to put up his tray and buckle.

A little old lady walked down the aisle, assisted by her husband. The couple looked to be around 80 years old. "Oh, Humphery, look at that. Why I remember when you and I were young and in love..."

"Hey! I'm still young!" her husband protested.

Tony grinned, looking over at Ziva who was drooling on his shoulder. The headphones fron the in flight movie were still over her ears even though the movie ended an hour ago. "We're not a couple."

"Aw." the old woman cooed, "It's so cute how you still think that."

Humphery laughed, "Give it time."

* * *

"Yay! You're home, you're home, you're home!" Abby ran forward and then stopped suddenly in front of her three friends. She found herself faced with a sudden predicament. "Argh, who do I hug first?! Tony and Ziva have been gone longer but Gibbs is Gibbs!"

"Well, you better decide quick, I'm not going to stand here all day!" Gibbs complained, although he was smiling.

"Um, Gibbs!" she gripped him tightly and released him quickly, "Then Ziva!" she embraced Ziva and then finally Tony, "And Tony!"

"Hey, how come I get picked last?" he pouted in mock hurt.

She grabbed Tony again, "You can have two then, is that better?"

"It's not worse..." he smiled, "Great to see you again, Abby."

McGee patted Tony on the shoulder, "Good to see you guys got back in one piece."

"No they didn't!" Abby turned to McGee, "I mean yeah, they don't have missing limbs or anything but look at Ziva's head!"

Ducky walked up to Ziva and checked her stitches, "Abigail you have no reason to fear. Her stitches look fine and it is already beginning to heal." he kissed Ziva on the cheek. "It's wonderful to have you back, my dear."

"Thank you, Ducky." she smiled.

"Probie, take our bags." Tony ordered, handing him his and Ziva's carry-on bags.

"Why am I stuck being your pack mule? Ziva's hurt but you're fine."

"Oh really?" Tony unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off of his injured shoulder, "That look fine to you Probie?"

"Oh dear," Ducky looked at his bandages which had begun to ooze through to the other side. "You should come with me to get your bandages changed. That fluid is actually a good sign that it is beginning to heal but you still need clean dressings."

"Tony, Ziva, go with Ducky." Gibbs ordered, "He'll get you taken care of and take you home."

They nodded and McGee followed them out carrying their luggage.

* * *

Ziva sat on one of the autopsy tables watching Ducky clean Tony's shoulder. He winced as Ducky dabbed at the wound with peroxide. She felt his pain but there was little she could do to ease his pain. "Hold still, we're almost done. My, you're a lucky lad. A few inches off and you'd still be on my table but a little alcohol would be the least of your concerns."

"I can handle it," Tony hissed, watching the wound fizz from the disinfectant.

She walked over to him and winced, "I thought you said it was getting better."

"It's actually healing quite well," Ducky assured her, "but yes, it does look rather ghastly."

Tony shrugged his shoulders, testing to see if the bandages would stay in place, "That'll do Duck."

"Alright then. Ziva, hop up on the table. I would like to see how you are doing."

Ziva reluctantly sat down. She'd already explained that the injury was not bad and that it barely bothered her but she knew that Ducky would insist on seeing for himself.

Ducky smiled and began to speak in French, knowing that Tony wouldn't be able to understand but to Ziva it was clearer than English. "Qu'est-ce qui c'est passé? Je sais qu'en Colombie tu as été violée et je suis vraiment désolé pour ça. Visiblement, tu ne veux pas en parler en sa présence, pourtant, je suis certain qu'il ne comprend pas le français."

"Je ne sais pas. Mais ce n'est ni le moment ni l'endroit pour en discuter. C'est compliqué."

" D'accord, mais si tu as besoin de parler, n'importe quand..."

"Oui, bien sur."

"Um. What?" Tony was puzzled. He caught a few words but not enough to understand their conversation.

"Don't you think we would have said it in English if it were meant for your ears, Anthony?" Ducky smiled.

"Yeah." he looked at Ziva, knowing not to press the subject further. "You ready to go home?" he brushed her hair aside to check her wound. It looked better and some of the redness and swelling had dissapated.

"I have been ready to go home for a very long time, Tony."

* * *

AN: Translation (Merci mille fois à LyanaDavid pour le fait de corriger mes fautes):

-What happened? I know that you were violated in Columbia and for that I am sorry. Obviously you don't want to tell me in front of him however I am certain that he doesn't understand French.

-I don't know. But now isn't the time or the place. It's complicated.

-Alright. But if you ever need to talk to someone-"

-Yes, of course.


End file.
